


How To Win A War

by Fiobri



Series: Eternal Cycle [5]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, Convincing People, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Has a Twin, Original Dragon - Freeform, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 15:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18943513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiobri/pseuds/Fiobri
Summary: Kernel and Hiccup wonder when their lives turned so backwards. From trying to kill dragons to being their best friends. Kernel says it's because Hiccup shot down Toothless. Hiccup thinks it's all her fault for having a dragon as her other self. Either way, they have a village to convince and a Dad whose world views to shift.Cycle 7. Trick Cycle, HTTYD.





	1. Growing Up

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! If you're new to the series check out either the First Story or Terminology so you understand a bit of what's going on.
> 
> Terminology:  
> Cyclist: A person who repeatedly gets born into different worlds.  
> Cycle: One life for a Cyclist.  
> Can Cycle: Cycle with canon story and next to no changes. It doesn't matter what time it starts.  
> Trick Cycle: Cycle with story differences, small or big. They have to be noticeable.  
> Mix Cycle: Cycle with two or more stories somehow combined. Crossover.  
> Trace: The first Cyclist. A girl, most of the time.  
> Rina: Trace's other-self/inner-self/first-self.  
> Drew: Trace's sibling/brother.  
> Frisk: Trace's sibling. Gender neutral.

 

Kernel. That was her name. A nut core. Strange. But not as strange as her life. This was, what, her… eighth? time as a toddler. And the last time left her, well. Better not think about her last life. ( _ Everyone _ was there and then just…  _ gone _ .) The whole civilization died in a flash of an alchemy circle, all for one man’s immortality. She and Rina had failed to do… anything. She was a moody toddler for sure but she just couldn’t bring herself to care. 

 

Everyone was just…  _ there _ and in a blink of an eye it was gone. She didn’t want to go through that again. Even though she acknowledged it was  _ very _ unlikely this life. 

 

She was a twin sister to a brown haired, green eyed toddler. With a small scar on his chin. Hiccup, was his name. Odd, she knew. Like Kernel but worse. They were viking children. Vikings seemed to think horrendous names kept trolls away or something. But girls will be girls and  _ they _ have to have at least a  _ little _ better names. She had landed in the ‘How to Something Dragon’ movies seen in her third life. If she remembered correctly. She hadn't even  _ seen _ them. Five lifetimes in between made you forget rather easily. Though her last had been… cut short. 

 

Why was she stuck in these reincarnations, she wondered. Melancholy gaze watched the clouds as they made shapes like in any other world. At least the sky stayed mostly the same everywhere. 

 

She missed Naruto and Sasuke. And Rina. She wasn’t here. She feared she had died in the last reincarnation. She truly feared her other self was gone. 

 

Luckily she had Hiccup. The little boy was a ray of sunshine in her world of darkness and sorrow. She could forget she was an adult seven times over. She could forget the trap she was in for a moment. She could brighten up her brother’s day and he could do the same to her. It was at four and a half years old that she decided she would be Hiccup’s support in the world everyone heaped expectations on him. The leader’s son. Stoick the Vast’s son with next to no bulk and all brain. Kernel thought it a good thing. The village thought not. 

 

“‘iccup!”, she laughed as the two played tag, “You’re it!” 

 

Stoick watched them with a smile. He was a loving father with no idea how to be one. Kernel loved him anyway. As did Hiccup. Their life was close to perfect up until they turned five and met other kids. Their intelligence stood out and was regarded as a strange thing. They didn’t fit in. But Hiccup had Kernel and Kernel had Hiccup so it was okay. 

 

Everything was okay if they had each other. 

 

xXXx

 

Kernel was eight when she got the first sign of Rina. A telepathy link of a kind. It was muddled, only feelings. And she  _ knew _ Rina  _ wasn’t _ inside her that moment. And that she was a few years younger than herself and Hiccup. Possibly not human but capable of understanding some human language and emotions. Kernel sighed. She had no idea where or who. 

 

xXXx

 

Hiccup was Gobber the Belch’s apprentice. A blacksmith’s apprentice. Kernel would admit to some curiosity. So it wasn’t that big a surprise to either Hiccup or herself that she sneaked in almost everyday to see what they were doing. Her brother was a  _ great _ teacher. Together they would learn and bounce ideas for new things and inventions. It was amazing. Like when she started learning about medical seals her first reincarnation. 

 

“The metal’s ready!”, she called to her brother who nodded determinedly and took the hammer up as she put the almost white glowing metal on the anvil. It didn’t take too long for them to have lots of hooks with and without clips and many leather straps ready for use. The twins grinned at each other and got to work. 

 

A full day’s work and both had a set of climbing safety gear with long ropes. Straight, or almost straight, out of Kernel’s memory. They were ready to climb a cliff. 

 

The two had found an interesting looking ledge at one of their explore-the-island trips and were determined to see what it had. Taking the stuff with them the two ran into the woods and in half an hour were standing at the bottom of the tall looking mountain thingy. 

 

“Okay. I’ll be down here and you go up”, Hiccup said, taking the lead easily. 

 

They worked the ropes so the other would hold the climber’s weight if they slipped. The climber would put hooks into the hard rock every few meters so the fall wouldn’t be a big one. It was a good system and Kernel thanked the one who had come up with it. Some testing and having fun later they were ready to try for real. An hour and a half after she was all the way up and looked wide eyed around the ledge and a  _ cave! _ They’d found a cave! One that was hard to access by normal means and hidden in a good place. 

 

“Hiccup!”, she called down from the ledge, grinning from ear to ear, “We found a  _ cave! _ ” 

 

Her brother grinned too, vibrating with excitement. They had wanted a hideout for so  _ long _ and now they might have found the perfect one. He  _ knew _ it was a good idea to climb it. Though Kernel was the one who had a good method for that. And it looked so fun! The twelve-year-old beckoned for his sister to come down so he could try. She did so and laughed happily as she descended. The cliff curved a bit outwards so the rope was the only thing not letting her crash to the ground as Hiccup let his weight carry her. She hit the ground lightly and they switched places, first pulling all of the rope back down to them. 

 

Then they realized a problem. Both of them weren’t going to get up at the same time with this method. And then they had a genius idea of putting another hook  _ higher _ than the ledge and then the one up there could still safely be the counterbalance. All in all, it didn’t take long until they were both standing in front of the cave. 

 

“Who first?”, asked Kernel, a bit nervously. 

 

Hiccup shrugged, also uncomfortable and wishing for a torch. They stood still for a moment before the boy broke the silence. 

 

“Maybe we should just get a lightsource before going” 

 

And so they did and got to exploring it. The space was pretty big. As in, their house big. With a bit of extra room. And another entrance covered in moss and tree roots. This one looked like the perfect place to slide down and the twins made sure to make plans for that later. It was a good looking hideout. And they would use it in the coming three years as their escape from taunts and expectations. So it happened it was decorated and used as a home away from home to think of everything and to just be with each other. 

 

xXXx

 

“Kernel?”, asked Hiccup one day, “Do you think dragons are intellectual?” 

 

The fourteen-year-old turned to her twin, long hair in a swirly messy plait bun at the back of her head, and raised an eyebrow, “Do you?” 

 

Green eyes stared at their room’s ceiling in frustration. He was clearly warring with himself over two beliefs. Conflicting ideas. Kernel smiled reassuringly. 

 

“I do…”, she said and also stared up, “They have intelligence, that much is clear with their attacks. I think they might have their own community… As for why they attack all the time, we can only speculate”, she paused for a long moment, “Perhaps… someday we could just observe how they live” 

 

Hiccup seemed thoughtful before smiling too. He hoped they could. It would be scary, and hard, and amazing… But they had each other so everything would be fine. 

 

(If any of the vikings had heard they'd first be scandalized and then ask what language the two were talking in. 'Intellectual', 'community' and 'speculate' were too big words for this island. But not for a girl who has lived many lives. Plural)


	2. Four Protectors

 

They were fifteen and it  _ should've _ been a normal raid. Hiccup left home to go and help Gobber… and maybe kill a dragon. Kernel just readied her poultices and newly crafted medical equipment to rush around helping the wounded. It had been that way for years since her body wasn't that suited to swinging heavy axes or hammers. But she had a small reputation as a healer. Although her brother helped along and stuff, it wasn't really what the chief's first born  _ should _ be good at. And it wasn't really his 'calling’. 

 

Which was why he helped Gobber and tried his best to shoot down a dragon. 

 

It was like any other time, really, so Kernel didn't notice something was wrong until Rina's feelings  _ flared _ distress. She almost dropped the bandages she'd been holding. Enquiring feelings and her own worry were ignored by her frantic other self. And then Hiccup screamed. 

 

Kernel was off and running towards the sound that made her heart race. 

 

_ Please be safe, please be safe, you're all I have here…! _

 

She arrived just in time to see their father punch a  _ Monstrous Nightmare _ that was about to end her brother's life. She scrambled to him, tugging him away from the now falling pole that's flaming head rolled down their village's streets… she winced. Stuff like this happened from time to time. But she had better things to do, like look Hiccup over for injuries. 

 

“Kernel, I'm fine”, he said in exasperation as she probed his muscles and looked for burns, “Really!” 

 

She let out a breath she didn't notice she'd held, “You scared me for a minute”, especially because Rina was still a mess of emotion. 

 

Hiccup smiled fondly. He knew his sister cared for him a lot. And that was good. It was nice to have  _ someone _ who worried. He knew  _ he _ did for her too so they were even. Also… he was pretty glad he had support who knew him and knew him  _ well _ . 

 

“Hiccup”, their father said with a resigned tone. 

 

“Sorry… Dad”, the teen pursed his lips and didn't look up, “I hit a Night Fury”, he said meekly. 

 

Kernel looked at him with wide eyes because that was his 'I'm telling the truth’ tone. Stoick sighed as he took his son a little ways away to talk to him, out of earshot for…  _ most _ of the gathered villagers. Kernel, of course, followed. Because the twins were like Ruffnut and Tuffnut, together in everything. Just not… weird like them. They didn't have that 'tough love’ stuff the other twins seemed to have. 

 

Stoick had a lot to say. None of it particularly nice. Hiccup took it with sass and sarcasm. Like always. Kernel feared she'd been the one to influence some of it. This village didn't appreciate her brother's intellect. And she wasn't much of a big name either, what with not having killed a dragon. 

 

It was what he started ranting about right now, actually. All 'If I see a dragon I just  _ have _ to kill it!’. She cringed a bit at the thought. Killing… wasn't something she liked even after being a ninja once. 

 

“You're many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them. Why don't you try to find something more… you. Like your sister” 

 

That was one of the worse things their father could've said. ‘Like your sister' was comparing. Comparing siblings should not be done. Hiccup and her were as thick as thieves but it still made seeds of jealousy to think of the other as somehow… superior. It did nothing to stop Hiccup from chasing dragon killer's glory.  

 

Gobber was set to making sure they got home. She, though, knew they were going after the Night Fury. 

 

Rina was still a flurry of worry. 

 

xXXx

 

“…this here. This is a talking fishbone!”, Hiccup ended his rant on their doorstep about Stoick wanting a buff son with guts and not him. 

 

Kernel sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder, “You know he loves us anyway” 

 

“Maybe  _ you _ ”, he retorted without any anger towards her, “But  _ I'm _ a different story” 

 

She stopped trying to convince him. The boy was mulish in his stubbornness as much as she loved him. 

 

“No, no, you're thinkin’ about this all wrong”, Gobber butted in, “It's not so much how you look like. It's what's  _ inside _ he can't stand” 

 

Kernel's temper flared cold, “ _ Gobber _ ”, she hissed, “My brother is good the way he is!” 

 

The blacksmith waved her off as Hiccup shook the comment off with his usual sarcasm, “Thank you, for summing that up”, he still sent a grateful look her way. Though she knew he thought it was only because she was trying to be nice. 

 

Gobber still continued, ignoring Kernel's warning look, “Look, the  _ point _ is, stop trying to be something you're not!” 

 

That the girl could agree with, “ _ Yes _ , Hiccup,  _ that _ is the root for this problem”, she said, watching him to make sure he knew she  _ believed _ what she said. He wouldn't hear of it. 

 

“I just wanna be one of  _ you _ guys” 

 

Gobber and the young healer/doctor traded glances before making a what-can-you-do gesture and going their ways. Kernel after her twin of course. She closed the door and looked to her brother. 

 

“So…”, she started, brushing her bangs aside, “We looking for that Night Fury or not?” 

 

Hiccup dropped his notebook with a startle before grinning at her. 

 

“You bet!” 

 

xXXx

 

The black dragon laid on its side, ropes circling it. He  _ looked _ okay… except for his tail now that Kernel saw better. She wasn't sure her brother did. Hiccup and her shared a glance in their hiding place and got out at the same time. They crept towards it slowly, afraid of it making a move but needing to just…  _ do _ this. 

 

Suddenly a high bird-like shriek broke the air and there was another dragon in front of them. 

 

Hiccup shrieked and scrambled backwards. Kernel stood still and stared because that dragon was  _ familiar _ . As in, drew that a few lifetimes ago familiar. As in, feeling like she should know her familiar. As in, are you  _ Rina _ familiar. The Wind Chaser stood protectively in front of the downed dragon, and worry was  _ radiating _ from Rina again. Kernel just… stared. 

 

“...Rina?”, came her quiet whisper. 

 

The bird-like dragon with four wings (upper pair double the size of the lower) and yellowish brown scales… with some turquoise stripes spreading down the upside of her wings, stilled and her light blue eyes widened. Her beak-like snout opened as she let out a fearful/hopeful chirp. Kernel nodded and didn't hear her brother screaming for her to get out of there. The fan around the dragon's head drew back and closed to make her look more delicate and unthreatening. It really was Rina. Hiccup grabbed Kernel to draw her behind a rock. 

 

“What are you  _ doing!? _ ”, he hissed through his teeth, “And what  _ is  _ that?” 

 

She snapped out of it and turned wholly to her brother, “That dragon… it's protecting the Night Fury” 

 

Hiccup frowned in confusion over the change of tracks before his eyes widened. 

 

“Pro… tecting?”, he whispered and looked out to see that,  _ yes _ it was. 

 

The twins stared over the rock at the dragon and Rina looked back, now focusing on Hiccup as a more likely threat than his sister. Said sister rose up to walk closer. Hiccup caught her hand but she shook her head and whispered that she got this. 

 

The brown haired girl walked slowly and unthreateningly towards her other self and raised her hand to touch her. Slowly. Carefully. The beak nudged her hand back and withdrew to turn to the Night Fury. His eyes were wide as he crooned to the younger dragon, asking  _ what  _ exactly she was doing. Kernel dropped to her knees slowly and took out a knife. 

 

“Shhh…”, she said to the now quietly panicking black beast, “I'm going to set you free” 

 

It didn't seem to understand. But it surely understood Rina. Kernel cut the ropes. The Night Fury was free and launched itself away from her and Hiccup. Right in front of Rina to protect her. Just like Hiccup had jumped in front of Kernel. Both parties stared at each other warily before the Night Fury roared at the boy and took off with his clearly younger adopted sibling flying after. Hiccup shook in front of her and stared after them. He sunk to the ground. 

 

“ _ What _ -”, he gasped, “just  _ happened _ ” 

 

Kernel was right beside him, feeling oddly relieved but also disappointed. 

 

“Well”, she said rather breathlessly, “I think we just found out that dragons  _ are _ intellectual” 

 

They stayed still for a moment and just  _ breathed _ . Then Hiccup stood up to stare where the dragons went. Kernel rose to stand beside him. 

 

“...Kernel?”, he said after a beat, “I… don't think I can kill them” 

 

She glanced at him, “Me neither, brother”, her eyes tracked after Rina's path, “Me neither” 

 

xXXx

 

And of course  _ then _ they found out their father had put Hiccup in dragon training. So Kernel was going too and arguing was moot. The males still tried. And failed. And Stoick was leaving on another hunt for the dragons’ nest. 


	3. Dragon Training

 

“Kernel, I'll be fine! You don't have to come with me”, Hiccup tried one last time to convince his sister who packed medical supplies and some of her knives. She was still a pretty sharp shot even if her kunai throwing days were over. This body had no muscle memory for that either. 

 

“And I said that where you go, I go. We're a team, Hiccup, like it or not!”, she stated and flung their own design backpack over her shoulders before picking up her smaller battle axe, “Now let's go. The ring awaits” 

 

Her brother deflated and conceded the point before picking his and following. They looked like they were marching to their doom. 

 

xXXx

 

“I hope I get covered with burns”, said Tuffnut. 

 

Ruffnut commented something about getting mauled and Astrid added that it was no fun without getting battle scars. Kernel just thought they were masochists. Her brother was on the same wavelength. 

 

“No kidding”, the words  _ dripped  _ sarcasm, “Pain.  _ Love _ it” 

 

The other teens weren't that happy to see them. Or at least Hiccup. 

 

“Oh, great. How did he get in?” 

 

_ There's a gate right there _ , Kernel thought but didn't say. It wouldn't be appreciated. And Hiccup would take the burn as the 'Screw-Up’.  _ She _ was an apprentice healer and a boon on the battlefield if people got hurt. No one else saw the intellect her brother had. It was annoying how glory was tied in battle here. To get acknowledged you had to be of use in one. 

 

“Let's get started now. The recruit who excels in training will get the honor of killing his or her first dragon in front of the entire village”, Gobber's voice said from behind them. 

 

The Haddock twins exchanged glances and knew both of their answers were the same. 

 

_ I pass.  _

 

Killing for entertainment had always rubbed Kernel the wrong way. She had no doubt her brother thought the same. 

 

“Hiccup already killed a Night Fury so is he disqualified?”, Snotlout mocked making Kernel's eye twitch. 

 

Gobber just ignored the laughter and went on to start the lesson. But not without giving some unhelpful encouragement to the scrawny twins. Then they were subjected to Gobber's unique teachings of 'learn on the job’. A Gronckle was released on them and all the teens ran for cover. 

 

“Quick! What's the most important thing you're going to need when dealing with a dragon?”, their teacher asked his students. 

 

“A doctor?”, Hiccup looked to his sister meaningfully. She wanted to roll her eyes.  

 

“Plus five speed?”, Fishlegs guessed. 

 

“A shield!”, Astrid shouted the right answer. 

 

Everyone ran for one. Hiccup had trouble picking his up with the axe so Kernel helped and then tried to get her own. Only to get it blasted from her hands. Hiccup was in front of her the next second. He was banging the shield on the instructions of Gobber to make the dragon confused. It was working. The duo ran some steps to get some breathing space from the dangerous creature. It started targeting the shields. 

 

_ Why shields? Aren't  _ we _ a better option for it? _ , thought Kernel as Snotlout's got blasted off. 

 

Hiccup was trying to stay between his sister and the Gronckle at all times. Unfortunately it blasted his shield out of his hands and straight to Kernel who soon got herself cornered by the dragon. Hiccup yelled her name in worry. She gripped her weapon and gulped before diving right and avoiding the molten blast, past reflexes leaving her in a defensive posture as Gobber got the beast and put it in its cage. 

 

“Remember. Dragons will  _ always _ go for the kill”, he said as the last piece of advice. 

 

Hiccup and Kernel looked at each other.  _ No. They don't.  _ That very lesson  _ demonstrated _ that they don't. She decided to voice it. 

 

“But then…”, she started, getting everyone's attention as her brow furrowed in false confusion, “Why did it keep aiming at the shields?” 

 

Gobber was quick to say that it  _ had _ blasted at her. But her question got everyone  _ thinking _ . It was all she wanted really. 

 

xXXx

 

It wasn't by chance the Haddock twins found themselves where the Night Fury had fallen. It might have had something to do with that day's lesson. Or that Kernel remembered the slightly bigger dragon being hurt. But they were there and looking for the two. 

 

Only, dragons have wings. Or so they remembered when they reached an empty cove. 

 

“Well, this was dumb”, Hiccup commented blandly. 

 

Just then the Night Fury jumped up and clearly tried to climb its way out. The Wind Chaser flew right beside him and trilled encouragingly. It didn't get all the way up. Kernel opened her mouth but got silenced by Hiccup's glare. She wisely dropped the forming comment. Instead the twins observed how the dragon glided to the ground and the younger and smaller one fussed over the other. She could tell her brother was feeling guilty now that he saw what he had done. She just nudged his arm and mouthed ‘you couldn’t have known’. His eyes clearly said ‘that’s no excuse’. Her brother was nice like that. Sometimes too nice. 

 

Kernel smiled and whispered, “Wanna go meet them?” 

 

He stared at her like he thought her insane. They went the next day after dragon training. 

 

xXXx

 

Wait wait, slow down.  _ Before _ next day they got drenched as they headed to eat at the Great Hall. The dragon training group was there too, as luck would have it. Gobber was teaching them by making them think where they went wrong that day. Astrid apparently messed up the timing to her somersault dive, which threw off her reverse tumble. Kernel understood. Kind of. She knew that in a ninja career at least you had to be no less than perfect. It was still a bit surreal to hear her criticize a point like that in her own performance. 

 

“Where did Hiccup go wrong?”, Gobber asked then as they walked by. 

 

Kernel was tempted to jump on the table to kick him. That was like  _ asking _ to get taunted. Tuffnut didn't disappoint. 

 

“Uhh, he showed up?” 

 

“He didn't get burned or eaten?”, Snotlout was smiling. 

 

Kernel glared at him. While taking a knife out to bang his helmet. With a sharp throw and a clang said helmet was on the ground and the black haired boy looking wide eyed at the miffed girl. Satisfied, she went to pick her knife up as Astrid gave some  _ real _ criticism. 'Never where he should be’ was better than the others gave even if it wasn't always true. To viking standards it was. But to a normal civilian the survival strategy was hide and hope it doesn't get you. 

 

“Alright. What about Kernel?”, Gobber asked next as she walked to sit at her brother's table. 

 

“She didn't do anything. Only hid behind her brother”, Ruffnut said, picking at her food absently. She looked disgusted at the mere thought of  _ hiding behind  _ a  _ brother _ . There were some murmurs of agreement. Kernel just winced. She didn't really  _ want _ to fight dragons. She was a  _ healer.  _ And only in the ring because where one twin went, the other followed. Hiccup bumped her shoulder for comfort and she was forced to smile a little. He was a nice brother. 

 

Then they were given the task of reading up on dragons. The Haddock twins glanced at each other and knew they would look up Night Furies and one unknown species. 

 

Unknown species wasn't anywhere and Night Fury page basically said 'If you hear of one, hide and hope it doesn't find you'. Seems like vikings  _ did _ know civilian strategies. 

 

Hiccup was the first person to have a drawing of the black dragon. 


	4. Spring Energy, No Teeth

 

Deadly Nadder. In a maze.  _ With _ the viking teenagers. 

 

_ This can only end great _ , Kernel thought sarcastically. 

 

Especially because her brother was busy asking Gobber about Night Furies and have you ever seen a light brown dragon other than a Gronckle? Answer was a sound ‘no’. And they didn’t really get anything on Night Furies. All the while Kernel had to keep lookout for the  _ other _ bird-like dragon. At least the Wind Chaser had some cat in her. And no teeth. Nadders… have teeth. Walk on two legs. Have deadly spikes in their tail. Can even  _ shoot _ them. 

 

She looked around the corner to stare straight at the dragon’s face. Inches. Away. From her  _ nose _ .  

 

Kernel retreated as fast as possible and grabbed her brother as she went. She ran them to the other side of the maze and stopped for a second. Her heart was beating like a drum. 

 

_ Too. Close.  _

 

And of course  _ then _ she found out the Nadder was on  _ top _ of the fences that made up the maze. 

 

_ This can only end great. _

 

And it did end with Astrid shouting at Hiccup (might as well have been ‘the twins’) to go figure out what side he was on. They knew it wasn't against dragons, whatever side it was. 

 

xXXx

 

Hiccup insisted on the shield. And the fish they brought. Kernel watched on with resigned amusement. She  _ knew _ they would have no trouble because one of the dragons was her  _ other self _ . 

 

They hid between rocks and Hiccup threw a fish on open ground. No one came to get it. Though Rina radiated amusement. She wondered if the Wind Chaser wanted to keep her name here… 

 

Hiccup's shield got stuck between the rocks. Kernel snickered. He hushed her with a slight blush. 

 

So under the shield they went, Hiccup picking the fish along the way as they turned back to back, looking for any dragon who  _ might _ pounce… which was on a rock. Only one leap away. And looking like a curious cat. Rina just laid on the rock lazily, swishing her three layered tailfins back and forth, open and closed. It gave amazing manoeuvrability in the air, Kernel knew. But Hiccup and her now had a black beast approaching them curiously. Her brother offered the fish with slow movements and probably a grimace. The dragon saw something and gave a low growl. Her brother reached for his belt where a knife was as a multi purpose tool. Another snarl… until Hiccup just dropped the knife and when it still looked distrustful, Kernel kicked it to the pond in the middle of the cove. Place. Clearing… She'd just use cove. 

 

The Night Fury was back to being a cute cat. It even purred slightly, or at least it sounded like that. 

 

This time her brother was braver in pushing the fish towards the dragon. With two hands. Rina was watching the exchange with curious light blue eyes (the pupils were a dark blue). The black cat-like beast opened its mouth to reveal gummies. Kernel blinked. Didn't he… Hiccup continued her train of thought aloud. 

 

“Toothless? Could've sworn he had-”, retractable teeth shot out and the fish was gulped down with extra vigor, “...teeth” 

 

The Wind Chaser trilled a surprisingly human-like laugh as her loved 'big brother’ crept towards Hiccup as if asking for more. Kernel got ignored and she walked after them with a slight grin. A puff of air on her shoulder had her turn to Rina who made a happy sounding croon and pushed gently against her shoulder. She stroked the dragon's beak fondly. 

 

“I'm glad you're here”, she whispered before a strange honking sound came from Hiccup's direction. 

 

She watched in morbid fascination as their new maybe-friend-or-pet puked half of the fish on her brother and sat back on his haunches. He looked expectant. She had a bad feeling as to what  _ that _ was. Her feeling was proved correct as Hiccup gingerly picked the saliva coated fish up and sent her a pleading look. She gave a helpless shrug in response. And then noticed Rina on the rock her brother was leaning against and the dragon grabbed the fish before it could go to her brother's mouth. The Wind Chaser ate it herself. Kernel burst out laughing as the now dubbed Toothless growled and launched himself at the other dragon who danced away on her four Night Fury-like spike scaled legs (the spike tips were orange) and led the other into a play fight. Hiccup rose to watch it in fascination. Kernel walked to him and watched too. Rina was happy. 

 

“They're like siblings”, her brother muttered as Toothless playfully conceded defeat and nudged the slightly smaller dragon off of him. 

 

“Yup”, she agreed as Rina looked like she swam in the air with grace only belonging to imaginary creatures. She was very fast as she flew around the cove once and stopped next to Toothless, “She looks like she's chasing the wind… Is that a wind blast?”, the dragoness shot a powerful gust from her beak. 

 

Hiccup's eyes were wide and shining with curiosity, “She can't shoot fire? Interesting… And you're right. Wind Chaser seems very accurate for her species”, he grinned slyly at her, “The Night Fury is now named Toothless. So what's the girl's name?” 

 

Kernel observed for a moment longer before deciding on one, “Springer”, she said before her tone turned teasing, “But wouldn't Toothless be better for her? She has a beak. No teeth” 

 

Her brother gave her a friendly shove, “Details” 

 

The dragons’ attention was back on the two humans. Newly named Springer chirped and bounced over with fluidity not looking out of place for wind and made a show of approaching them. Toothless was quickly beside her and looking ready to defend if either of them hurt what was his. It was funny how the two pairs of siblings were alike. If someone hurt one, the other was on them in an instant. 

 

Kernel smiled at Rina, now only two meters away, “Did you hear? You're named Springer now” 

 

She felt her flash of surprise and then content amusement. The Wind Chaser twittered and cautiously stepped forward again. Hiccup looked ready to pull his sister away if something went wrong. They really were alike, the pairs. Kernel looked to overprotective Toothless for permission before reaching a hand slowly towards the dragoness and waiting. Springer leaned forward and sniffed at her fingers before just brushing her head against it. Then she jumped back and took a familiar stance for both of the girls. Kernel grinned and leapt at her, hands splayed wide. It started their merry chase and chirps and laughter rang across the cove. 

 

This left Toothless and Hiccup watching on with bemusement. A moment spent in silence before they as one glanced at each other. Hiccup pursed his lips in thought and then meaningfully gestured to the pair playing tag, all wide eyed innocence. Toothless gave a look akin to 'unimpressed’ and leapt into the air to land across the pond. The flight was slightly wobbly. Once there he torched the ground to curl up on it like a cat. He watched contently at his little sister playing with the human girl before noticing Hiccup sitting next to him. The boy lifted a hand in greeting. Still fairly unimpressed the dragon turned and curled his tail around him to block his sight of the teen. 

 

Hiccup still reached forward to touch him. And had to pretend he hadn't tried as the tail lifted and revealed a light green dragon eye. 

 

Toothless took his nap bat-style. 

 

Kernel and Springer just decided to lay next to each other and near Hiccup to watch clouds. Their brothers would figure it out in a jiffy, they knew. 

 

xXXx 

 

The girls sat next to each other and watched in amusement as Toothless drew something on the ground with a thick tree branch as a pencil. Hiccup had just sat on the rock, drawing the dragon, when the Night Fury had appeared over his shoulder to watch and then decided to copy the boy. Now he had to spin his way out of the masterpiece to not anger Toothless. Springer and Kernel both leaned forward in anticipation as Hiccup reached to touch the dragon. 

 

Toothless reached back and his snout touched the teen's hand. 

 

It was only for a little bit. But it happened! The two girls thought it one of the most beautiful things that had happened in their lifetimes. Hiccup seemed to think so too if the way he stared at his hand was any indication. Kernel couldn't take it anymore and just ran to hug him. 

 

“You did it!”, she whisper shouted in excitement. 

 

His smile was disbelieving but true, “I did it…!”, then he noticed the sun, “We should get home” 

 

Kernel looked to Springer and gave a wave as she agreed, “Yeah…” 

 

They walked to home in silence, a bit stunned at the day's events. It was only when they were in their room and trying to sleep that Hiccup asked what had been bothering him. 

 

“Kernel?” 

 

“Hm?” 

 

A rustle as he turned in his bed, “How do you and Springer get on so well?” 

 

Kernel fell quiet and wiggled her toes in her nervousness. Answer or no answer. Say, or don't say. She wanted to tell him. But he wouldn't believe her. So only a half truth. Maybe. 

 

The girl took a deep breath, “She is… a friend. From a lifetime ago” 

 

Hiccup radiated curiosity and held no disbelief, much to her surprise. Encouraged, Kernel continued. 

 

“I wasn't always your sister. Before I was born here, I lived in another place”, she decided to leave the ‘lots of other places’ out for now. It was still a bitter pill for her to swallow, “I had a family. Mom, Dad and my friends. My teammates. And of course…”, she unconsciously put a hand on her heart, “my other self” 

 

Her brother was captivated. It sounded completely ludicrous but honesty rang in her every word. 

 

“Other self?”, he asked. It was like they were little again and she told him stories that no one had ever heard before. That time he had thought them as her wide imagination, but now… 

 

She smiled, “My other self. Someone who was me with a slightly different personality. Someone who lived inside of me, as a part of me. Then we died and… here she was gone. Until a link between us was formed when we were eight or so”, she looked to her brother with twinkling eyes, “That's how I know what Springer is feeling all the time, just like I know she feels me” 

 

Hiccup was quiet for a long time. He thought of everything he knew about his sister and found it easier to believe what she said the more he thought of it. 

 

“So that's how you know so much…”, he muttered with wonder. 

 

She laughed, slightly bitter, “Yeah. That's how” 

 

They were quiet for a moment. Then… 

 

“You're still my sister” 

 

Kernel felt a weight lifted off her shoulders at that statement. It was the lightest she'd felt since her and Rina died. 

 

“And you my brother” 

 

She knew there were more conversations to be had of this but right then they needed to sleep. Tomorrow was another day with dragons. Both learning how to kill them and how to befriend them. Wasn't that kinda backwards? She thought so, but what could you do in a village of stubborn vikings? It was that night Kernel promised herself she'd show her village, her  _ clan _ , what dragons  _ really _ were someday. 


	5. Tailfins and Eels

 

There were two things the Haddock twins learned from the next day’s evening campfire (that was held on a watchtower. Go figure). One, Fishlegs had a sometimes disgusting imagination. Two, they had a new project to focus on: a prosthetic tailfin. How they never thought of it before was a mystery. 

 

xXXx

 

“Hey, Tooothless!”, Hiccup called out as they arrived, carrying a bag of fish each. 

 

Kernel bounced in her steps, not at all bothered by the weight that wasn’t that heavy, “Springee~er! We got fish!” 

 

She couldn’t help it. She was  _ excited _ . The two dragons looked eagerly at the feast spread in front of them, ignoring Hiccup’s comment of ‘disgusting’. After the twins showed off their selection of fish and got rid of eel (Dragons didn’t like it. Who knew?) Hiccup silently crept towards the crippled tail as Kernel distracted Toothless. With Springer’s unknowing help, of course. And then the Night Fury figured out what was going on. Kernel looked on worriedly as his wings unfurled, steadily but slowly. 

 

“Uhh… Hiccup?”, she warned nervously, Springer too busy eating fish. 

 

Her brother didn’t hear. And then it was too late as Toothless jumped into the air with him holding on to his tail. Kernel was on her feet in an instant, Springer by her side. 

 

“ _ Hiccup!! _ ”, she called out in alarm. 

 

Her brother held on as she watched with bated breath. They flew… and started falling. And at the  _ last _ possible moment (why, close calls,  _ why _ ) Hiccup got the prosthetic tail open. And it worked. She watched in awe as they flew higher and higher before the teen turned them back. A circle, a dive, and Toothless noticed he had a passenger. Then Hiccup was flying through the air  _ without _ a dragon and splashed into the pond. Kernel looked on as Toothless did the same trick, tail closed, and then her brother whooped in exhilaration. 

 

She just slumped to her knees in relief. Then she started laughing with Hiccup. And after a moment turned her hopeful eyes to Springer. Said dragon rolled her eyes mentally and flew up to grab her by her shoulders… only to just flip her into the water. Kernel rose to the surface and pouted. Hiccup laughed harder. 

 

xXXx

 

Teamwork. This day's lesson was about teamwork. In a gas covered area. Where a Hideous Zippleback was hiding. Which was a  _ two headed _ dragon. 

 

Well. Hiccup and Kernel  _ were _ a team already. Taking Fishlegs to the mix didn't hurt them at all. They rotated slowly as the bulky viking teen narrated what he knew about the Zippleback. It was… disturbing. Hiccup told him to stop telling how it crushed its victims. He did, much to the twins’ relief. 

 

“Okay”, Kernel breathed, “We have three chances. If someone sees it, only one throws water” 

 

Silent agreement from both her teammates. She glanced at Hiccup, question in her eyes. He nodded discreetly. Which meant he had the 'last line defence’. Named eel. Kernel made a mental note to stay close. 

 

Surprised shouts from their left. Someone had thrown water at the two other girls. Then a cry from Tuffnut. The trio tensed, looking for green heads. 

 

“Oh, I’m hurt! I am very much hurt!”, cried the blonde haired boy as he ran away from the clearing smoke. 

 

A dragon's head emerged out of it, straight in front of Fishlegs. He backpedaled, throwing the water. Only to figure out it was the wrong head when it barfed green flammable gas. 

 

“Oh. Wrong head”, he said, strangely happy-nervous. 

 

Which meant Kernel and Hiccup had the only bucketfuls left and that  _ that _ green head in front of  _ them _ was the right one. The one that lit the gas. It was annoyingly high up. Hiccup tried to throw his water and failed. Kernel tried and… actually  _ got  _ it. 

 

“Good job! Now get outta there!”, Gobber shouted a little ways away. 

 

Too late… it leaned down… and backed off. From the siblings. Hiccup started ordering it to retreat and Kernel could  _ feel _ everyone else gaping at them. She still had a little bit of water in her bucket and walked behind her brother to throw if either head decided to do something. If not the water, she’d throw the bucket. 

 

Luckily it wasn't needed. The Hideous Zippleback was in its cage and the twins reached out to close one door each. The eel was still under Hiccup's vest, neither twin cruel enough to leave the dragon with something so hated. Though if they'd done this  _ alone _ it would be a different story, as regrettable as it was. The Zippleback would've been back in the ring faster than you could say ‘eel’. But as it were, they got the gate closed and turned to each other with identical looks of relief and triumph. 

 

Then someone dropped a bucket and they noticed the others staring at them in shock, some mouths open. 

 

“Uhh… is class over or…?”, Kernel trailed off in the awkward silence. Hiccup picked it up with a half truth, “Because… we have a project to, you know…”, a shrug. A pause with the twins fidgeting. Then they decided they’d had enough of the staring and just hurried away. 

 

They had saddles to design and dragons to fly. 

 

xXXx

 

Okay, they had saddles now but there was no flying. Why? Toothless wasn’t that taken by the idea of something strapped on his back. Kernel just needed to show the saddle once and Springer leaned down to let her put it on. Now the two girls sat next to each other and watched the show. 

 

“C’mon, you overgrown lizard, I have  _ fish _ for you~!”, Hiccup tried to persuade the black dragon perched on a tree branch. 

 

Toothless’ only reply was a smug stare. And a flick of his tail that hit the teen over the head. He grumbled and tried a new tactic. 

 

“Don’t you  _ want _ to fly?”, he asked, spreading his arms wide as a demonstration of wings. 

 

Everyone could see the Night Fury was tempted now. It still stayed in the tree. The teen deflated and turned an envious glance Kernel’s way. Then his face lit up as he got an idea. 

 

“I’ll just fly with Kernel and Springer then”, he said with a defeated sigh. He started walking away. 

 

Toothless stared after the dejected boy for a second, then looked in the girls’ direction. They watched at him in a way that screamed ‘just do it!’. He looked to Hiccup again, seeing him kick a rock to the side sadly. The dragon decided to have pity on his really sad looking friend and pounced from his perch. Hiccup’s retreat was stopped by Toothless landing in front of him. The teen grinned. It worked! 

 

Kernel and Springer exchanged discrete high fives with a hand and a tail. 

 

xXXx

 

The next days went by with the teens learning more about their dragon companions. And experimenting with flying. Their first flight had been  _ exhilarating! _ It was pretty short as Hiccup tried to use the tailfin with a length of rope and Kernel tried to stay on Springer's back. The Wind Chaser's flying was very much like the wind. Thus, very hard to ride. All those twists and turns with fast and slow spurts had made for some painful landings. But she  _ did _ figure out how to land with minimal injuries. Granted, that was kinda copied from other worlds where she'd learnt that kind of skills. 

 

Hiccup and Toothless took a while to get used to the concept of riding and being ridden. Hiccup wasn't used to being carried like that and the Night Fury wasn't used to  _ having _ someone on his back, let alone that the rider was the only reason he  _ could _ fly. But they got in the air eventually. After many shortened trips because Hiccup pulled the rope wrong, or just couldn't hold on. And Toothless forgetting he couldn't just fly however he wanted. It was hard because they had to  _ listen _ to each other and anticipate what the other would do next. 

 

After a few dozen tumbles the twins finally decided to make some safety gear. Riding vests and harness. 

 

Really, they should've done it in the first place, what with having  _ experience _ with the climbing safety and all. Speaking of, they hadn't visited their Hideout for a while. 

 

“Hey, Hiccup”, Kernel realized something. Her brother turned to her with a curious expression. She continued with an anticipating grin, “We don't need to climb to Hideout anymore if we get this flying thing right!” 

 

His eyes lit up. 

 

“We  _ have _ to show it to Toothless and Springer sometime! There's room for a dragon perch and that ledge would make a  _ perfect _ landing spot and-” 

 

And Kernel knew his brother was gone to Inventionland. She listened patiently to the bubbling ideas and added her own tidbits here and there. They almost overslept the next morning, hurrying out and leaving the night's work lying around their room. 

 

Sometime Kernel  _ really _ should learn that setting ideas in her brother's head when it was time to sleep was a bad idea. 


	6. Planning and Sleepiness

 

It was only two weeks since they'd met the dragon's and started dragon training. 

 

Since then their lives had been practically thrown upside down. They'd learned more about dragons then they ever thought possible and made regular  _ flying trips _ with them. Kernel had even gotten  _ used to _ Springer's windy movements and could sometimes  _ anticipate _ them. Hiccup could now control the tail somewhat better and they had a tailfin controlling system worked up with only a few more days until it was ready for use. It had been problematic to think up but would be so worth it when they finally got to trying it. 

 

But they'd learned a lot more. Dragons hated, even feared, eels. They liked being scratched and if you did it in a certain pattern it built up a fainting reflex. Almost all dragons they'd had contact with dropped attempts to harm oneself if they showed no intent of harming it. There was a dragon equivalent for catnip. Many dragons were very smart and could feel emotion, think and act on them. They were loyal friends and loved the games the twins cooked up. Dragons liked chasing small and moving things. Like a reflection of light. They loved flying and held almost no reservations for having a rider, if they showed they could be trusted. 

 

Dragons were at war with vikings because they had to, not because they wanted to. 

 

That was what the twins got from their friends when they asked. Kernel's link with Springer was a big help in understanding at least  _ something _ . But not really  _ why _ so many dragons  _ had _ to attack and other ones didn't. The Fury and Chaser tried to help out only so the others didn't die. Die of what and  _ why _ was impossible to understand as of yet, but they were getting there. 

 

Anyway, they knew a  _ lot _ more than two weeks ago. 

 

And that was becoming a problem. Scratch that, it was a problem the  _ moment _ they decided to befriend dragons. It was only now they started to realize it though. And they had to find a solution. 

 

If their village found out about their friends, the dragons would be either chased off or killed. And they  _ would _ find out someday, no ifs or buts about it. 

 

So it would have to be on  _ their _ terms. Which was why they were at Hideout and brainstorming, Spring and Tooth lazing around on a perch they'd set up just for them. It was their favorite place on the island other than the cove it seemed. 

 

Kernel munched on a mint leaf and thought hard for ideas. It was a 'brushing your teeth’ tactic when brushes weren't available. 

 

“We… could try to tell someone? Someone who could understand?”, she offered, though it sounded weak even to her own ears. 

 

Hiccup vehemently shook his head, “ _ Who _ do we know that is like that? True, Fishlegs probably but… A secret like this is hard to keep. He'd probably blab” 

 

Kernel groaned in frustration. All of that was true. It applied to lots of vikings. They just didn't know how to keep quiet or were terrible liars. Why was having dragons as friends so freakishly hard? 

 

“We can't just  _ not _ tell anyone either”, Hiccup continued with the same amount of frustrating helplessness. 

 

They were quiet for a  _ long _ moment, both lost in thought. Springer snorted and gave chirp while nudging Toothless so he would play with her. Rina or not, Wind Chasers were active creatures and required lots of stimulation. She didn't get a reaction out of her brother though and decided to flop on the other who groaned and tried to shove her off, only to roll around once more and ending up in a playful power struggle. It was cute. 

 

“How can no one else  _ see _ this?”, muttered Hiccup as he watched the two. Kernel couldn't help but agree. And she might have found a solution. 

 

“You know… it'll take time but we could try putting seeds of doubt in everyone's minds… I mean, we could start at the ring. Tell comments and tidbits about dragons to get them  _ thinking _ about this war, start doubting it and stuff vikings 'know' and  _ then _ it won't be as risky to be found out”, she started, trailing off at the end. 

 

Hiccup's eyes widened as he too started thinking. 

 

“We could do more than that! Like, stage instances where dragons are seen in non-threatening positions. Maybe try coaxing Terrible Terrors someplace and have them be seen playing. Maybe start with kids. They're open-minded. The best would be if some dragons could help vikings with stuff…”, he sighed, “This is going to take a while” 

 

Kernel laid her head on his shoulder and hummed in agreement, “Shifting worldviews isn't that easy” 

 

They watched as Toothless won the play fight, knocking over a box they'd set there to reach a higher up indent they used as a shelf. Nowadays they didn't need the boost. They were taller than twelve-year-olds. It was lucky their cave didn't have a lot of furniture, though. Otherwise dragon fights, playful or not, wouldn't be advisable. 

 

“I know it isn't…”, Hiccup said, throwing an arm around her shoulders, both for supporting and getting support, “But… this is a start, right? You always  _ did _ say we should start small” 

 

Kernel snorted, “Only you would say coaxing dragons to help vikings that want to kill them is starting small”, she sneaked an arm behind him so they were sitting comfortably wrapped around each other, “But yeah. It's a start. Just  _ please _ stick to baby steps first” 

 

A snicker, “No promises” 

 

xXXx

 

Their newfound mission was helped along a bit by the fame they'd been gathering at the ring. Most of the time it was just annoying (to Kernel at least), but here it worked for their purpose. They could spark conversations about dragons in general and not be laughed at for an instance. Like… 

 

“What  _ are _ dragons, really?”, Kernel mused one afternoon at the Great Hall. 

 

“What are you on about? They're pests, the lot of ‘em! Cause nothing but trouble”, said a viking across from them. 

 

She frowned in thought, “I mean, what do they do when they're not attacking us? Do they have children they care for? Families? Do they feel emotions like we do?” 

 

“Of course not!”, a man said like he wholeheartedly believed that. 

 

“Maybe”, said another at the same time, thinking about it, “I saw one helping a wounded Nadder the other day. Seemed frantic to me” 

 

“Really? Do you think they could be intelligent?”, Hiccup asked curiously, already knowing the answer. 

 

This raised a large debate between two sides that, in some circumstances would have escalated into an all out brawl. Hiccup and Kernel watched all the chaos from the sidelines, thinking the same. They had to be more careful next time. But at least half of the vikings present were thinking. About the true nature of dragons. And had opinions on it. 

 

It was working. Somewhat. They grinned at each other. 

 

xXXx

 

Kernel and Hiccup were exhausted. 

 

They’d been doing something every single day. Befriending other dragons in the wild, flying and having fun with Spring and Tooth, doing dragon training while trying not to let the dragons or people get hurt, getting away from admirers they felt they didn’t deserve, spreading seeds of doubt, inventing flying gear, planning for the future, talking with their dragon training class and Gobber to try and make them see things a bit more ‘their’ way… Point was, they did much. And deserved some rest. Otherwise they’d collapse. Kernel knew this. Hiccup… was being stubborn. 

 

“Brother, I’m the healer. I should know”, she said to the boy who glared at the pen and paper she held hostage. 

 

“I’m  _ fine! _ I just have to get that ready and then I’ll sleep. Promise!”, he insisted. 

 

Kernel stayed stern, “Hiccup, you need to  _ sleep _ . I know for a fact that this’ll take you at  _ least  _ two hours and we have to wake up early! Now  _ sleep _ you idiot! You need it!  _ We _ need it” 

 

He finally agreed. Though grudgingly. Kernel was too relieved to think about what she knew of his brother. She fell asleep quickly enough and Hiccup got up to get back to planning. An hour turned two, then three, until he realized he’d have maybe two hours of sleep if he went to bed  _ right then _ . 

 

He really should’ve listened to Kernel. 

 

The teen fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. It felt like two seconds later Kernel was waking him up and eyeing the bags under his eyes. She frowned, structinizing the paper she’d left on her night table last night, and sighing tiredly when she noticed it had been tweaked to perfection. 

 

“Hiccup…”, she started. 

 

“I know. I’m sorry”, he yawned, “Will listen next time” 

 

All he really wanted was to curl up and go back to sleep. But they had dragon training and he couldn’t skip it. Kernel had this worried look in her eyes again. 

 

“Okay… But we’re moving the tailfin control testing to tomorrow”, she told him, “I’m not having you flying around with a new system half-asleep” 

 

Taking one look at her, Hiccup knew arguing was moot. He sighed and pouted petulantly. He’d been looking forward to that. Though he also acknowledged he’d more than likely fall off today. It was a struggle to stay awake enough on his feet! 

 

“C’mon. We need to get going”, Kernel told him, hefting his axe too. 

 

Hiccup muttered something and trudged along. 

 

This was going to be a long day. 

 

xXXx

 

Kernel looked worriedly at Hiccup who was staring into nothingness as Gobber gave instructions. She would have to keep a closer eye on him today. Especially if they were going to be dodging five Terrible Terrors. Last time they’d just used ‘follow the light’ trick but then it had been only one. And today was cloudy. Today they’d need to resort to something else. Like fast reflexes. Which both had by now, if Springer’s surprise pounces were of any help. They’d had to learn how to dodge in time. That, or get pulled into a game of tag in order to get a piece of equipment or cloth back. 

 

But today Hiccup wouldn’t be able to. He had basically pulled an all nighter with a few hours to spare for sleep. He’d be moving in slow motion. 

 

“Okay! Start!”, and Gobber pulled the lever. Five little dragons were released and started jumping at them in precise attacks after seeing their ready-to-strike stances and weapons. 

 

Hiccup was jostled out of his half-awake state by a yellow scaled Terror bouncing towards him. On a reflex, he dropped his weapon and knelt down, making the dragon stop and look at him curiously. Kernel noticed and her eyes widened because  _ what was he  _ doing _ in the middle of the  _ ring _!? _ Then she realized he probably wasn’t thinking. She was about to go and cover for him when Astrid saw it too. 

 

“Hiccup!”, she shouted in alarm as the boy reached for the Terror in a placating gesture like the twins had done in other places countless times. 

 

He jerked back but not before the Terrible Terror launched into his arms, frightened by the sudden yell and rushing into what it deemed safe. His skinny arms immediately wrapped around it and left him looking wide eyed at Astrid, who was running towards him and ready to rip off the dragon she thought might hurt him badly. Hiccup yelped and dodged her, the Terror letting out a small squawk as it flared its small wings in alarm and climbed to the teen’s shoulder. By this time, Gobber had gathered up the other Terrors in a net, about to stop the lesson because of Hiccup having an injury, and looking wide eyed at the little dragon on his shoulder like everyone else. 

 

“Hiccup, whatever you do. Don’t. Move”, said Astrid in a low tone before hissing, “It’s  _ on your shoulder _ ” 

 

The teen was stock still. Not because of what Astrid said, but because what now? What was he supposed to  _ do? _ He glanced at Kernel for help and they had a silent conversation before deciding on an action. The viking girl was about to cautiously raise her axe in order to throw it and save him from ‘danger’. Hiccup raised a hand in a warning gesture, making her halt. 

 

“ _ Don’t! _ ”, he ordered, the authority in his voice not something anyone else but Kernel had heard, “Just. Wait a second. I got this” 

 

Everyone held their breath as he reached for the Terror who cocked its head, trying to understand what was wanted of it. Then it just climbed down and settled in the crook of his arm comfortably. It let out a happy sound and closed its eyes. Hiccup envied it, getting to sleep and not worry about this situation they were having here. He was almost shaking with nerves. 

 

“Um… Let’s get it back to the… cage?”, he asked more than anything from the very shocked looking people all around him. 

 

Astrid had lowered her weapon and was now looking at him with complete befuddlement. Snotlout openly gaped. The Thorston twins’ faces had awe written all over them. Fishlegs seemed to be torn between bursting with questions and keeping quiet in order to not wake the dragon that could rip his eyes out. The dragon comfortably resting in _Hiccup’s_ _arms_. Gobber had a look like ‘okay, this is new’. 

 

“Huh. Never thought I’d see somethin’ like this”, the blacksmith commented, “Bring it ‘ere, Hiccup. Careful. Don’t wake it or it’ll bite your fingers off” 

 

Their teacher seemed doubtful even as he said it. Kernel thought it most progress they’d had with this group. 

 

With the little Terror settled safely under the net, all the teens (except Astrid) burst into action, swarming the boy and asking questions with awestruck eyes. Gobber left to put the dragons away, pronouncing the lesson ended. Hiccup just stood there with a funny feeling of relief in his chest and glanced at Kernel who smiled reassuringly. 

 

“Did you guys see that? The dragon didn’t look like it even  _ wanted _ to attack! I wonder why…?”, Fishlegs said after the whirl of questions had started to die down a little bit. 

 

The Haddock twins shared a look. This was progress! Maybe they could tell this group soon… After them, everyone else would (probably) follow with all the debates about dragons they had had lately. And the rumors of someone seeing a small swarm of Terrible Terrors playing with each other on a rock near the shore. Or the little kids who told their parents they’d played with a Terror or a Gronckle (Hiccup and Kernel had had a bit of trouble doing that one without being seen… but it worked. Many people had started doubting their view of dragons being only harmful pests). 

 

Snotlout pointed out a flaw, “Nah, of course it wanted to ‘cause dragons  _ always _ go for the kill. Hiccup’s just too scrawny for it to consider him a good one” 

 

Ruffnut and Tuffnut let out a ‘oooh’ of realization. Fishlegs frowned like he disagreed. Astrid took part in the conversation for the first time. 

 

“No. Dragons don’t care about that. It just didn’t try to kill him because he did  _ something _ that made it not to”, she glared at him as if daring him to object, “ _ Something _ he or his sister don’t want to  _ share _ ” 

 

The last word was spat out like poison and she marched off, leaving Hiccup and Kernel looking after her with troubled expressions. 

 

“She looks ticked off”, Tuffnut observed, “What did you do to get on her bad side? I wanna try!” 

 

“Yeah. Tell us”, his sister echoed. 

 

Their questioning glances found thin air. The Haddock twins were gone. 

 

xXXx

 

Hiccup and Kernel found the blonde girl practicing with her axe in the forest. She hit the trees dead on again and again, looking increasingly frustrated. They watched her for a moment before sharing concerned glances. Astrid really didn’t like that she didn’t know. Or then she was… jealous. But she hadn’t really seemed the type. Not before now at least. Maybe it was just because Hooligan village’s little-healer and screw-up were besting her in something she had done since she was a child. All  _ without _ using normal tactics. 

 

Kernel approached her cautiously, “Um, Astrid?”, she asked. 

 

The girl whirled around and was about to throw her axe when she registered who it was. Hiccup was suddenly in front of Kernel and ready to take the blow. Astrid frowned at them and lowered her weapon. 

 

“What do you want?”, she asked a bit crossily. 

 

The twins shared a glance. 

 

“We didn’t know it bothered you so much, so… we were wondering if you wanted to know?”, Hiccup ended as a question. 

 

Astrid’s eyebrows shot up before her glare was back with suspicion, “Want to know what, exactly”, it was a demand to tell. Not a question. 

 

They winced at her tone. Kernel answered. 

 

“How we’ve ‘gotten so good’ in the ring. You didn’t think it just  _ happened _ , did you?” 

 

Astrid’s expression said everything. The viking girl flipped her axe over her shoulder and drummed her fingers on its handle once, warningly. 

 

“Show me”, she ordered. 

 

Hiccup and Kernel nodded. They both knew it was sink or swim with all of this. Either Astrid accepted, or she rejected. The latter was what they dreaded. But trusted Astrid to hear them out first. She had to. She just  _ had _ to. 

 

Hiccup took the lead. 

 

“This way” 


	7. Promise to Listen

 

The trio trudged through the forest in silence, the Haddock twins ahead of Astrid who was looking thoughtfully at them. She hadn’t expected them to just come and  _ offer  _ to be let in on their secret. The warrior kind of thought them more selfish than that. They’d been the bane of her career from the moment they stepped into that ring and she had stopped seeing them as nothing else but two dirty deceiving glory thieves. It had been so  _ frustrating _ to see them getting praised for underhanded tactics no one could figure out and their obvious avoidance of answers only aggravated it more. They should be  _ teaching _ their tricks to the rest of them so they could protect their home! Not  _ keep _ those for themselves to get fame and glory! 

 

Except, now they  _ were _ going to show her. Turns out all she had to do was let them. Or ask. She felt a little like an idiot, not that she’d admit it. They might have had a  _ reason _ for not telling. If,  _ if _ , it was a good one she would apologize. At least mentally. 

 

Whatever it was she’d hear them out. That was a promise. 

 

The twins halted as one when they reached an opening in a rock formation. They turned to look at her and Astrid wondered if something was wrong. Then she realized they looked at her axe with contemplation. Were they thinking how her weapon could be used in the training they did? Because they  _ had _ to have trained somehow. But no. Kernel bit her lip for a moment before she came to a decision and opened her mouth. 

 

“Could you leave your axe here?”, Astrid tensed, “What we want to show you… well”, she rubbed her arm awkwardly and shrugged a shoulder. 

 

The viking girl relaxed again. Her axe would just be in the way. She understood. 

 

“Fine”, she said and propped it against the ravine like opening’s wall. 

 

When she stood, the twins were smiling with something like relief in their eyes. Had they been afraid she wouldn’t listen? The two still looked very nervous when they started walking towards the ravine’s other end. There was light there. Hiccup filled the silence with instructions. 

 

“Okay, so. What we have here is quite… shocking. Just  _ please _ listen and try to understand before making any decision. I know it goes against a lot of things vikings believe in and… well. Better to just show you”, he told her and as they reached the beautiful cove looked to Kernel with a ‘go ahead’ look. 

 

Before Astrid could even form a thought to contemplate what she had just been told Kernel walked towards the edge of the cliff they’d arrived at and shouted. 

 

“Springer! Catch!” 

 

And she jumped. 

 

Astrid reached out, heart in her throat, only to choke on her scream of alarm as she heard a dragon screech. Right from where Kernel jumped. She feared the worst and then… A light brown dragon with turquoise lines on its wings shot up. Astrid was about tackle Hiccup to the ground so they’d be safe when she registered what she was seeing. The dragon was flying in front of them with steady wingbeats and  _ four  _ wings. She didn’t know any dragon with four wings. But that wasn’t what caught her attention. Not by a long shot. 

 

Kernel was  _ riding _ it. 

 

Kernel, a  _ viking girl _ , was riding a  _ dragon _ . An  _ unknown _ dragon at that. 

 

Astrid’s mind was blank for a second because,  _ what _ . Then it was turning over the new information until it was the only thing she could think. After which her anger was boiling over because  _ how could they _ . Dragon’s had been raiding their village for  _ three hundred years _ and these two siblings were _ clearly _ on their side. On the  _ enemy _ side. 

 

They were  _ enemies _ . Hooligan village had to be informed. 

 

She was about to turn and run but came face to face with Hiccup who had a concerned and pained look on his face. Astrid paused. She had promised to hear them out. They had scared the life out of her and were  _ riding dragons _ but Astrid had promised. She  _ kept _ her promises. 

 

“What are you two  _ thinking!? _ Dragons have been  _ raiding _ our village,  _ killing _ us, for  _ three hundred years! _ Three hundred  _ years!! _ And you’re on  _ their _ side?”, she raged at the boy who was not on a dragon. He wasn’t as scary but she turned and glared at his twin too because having her back against the danger wasn’t a good idea, “You  _ betrayed _ us!?” 

 

The twins had the grace to look a little guilty and Astrid got the questions off her shoulders. And, of course, had her payback for scaring her like that. You  _ did not _ go jumping off cliffs without warning. But she was still willing to hear them out. She had  _ promised _ . If not aloud, then in her heart. She took a deep breath to calm herself and glared at the two more calmly. 

 

“Explain yourselves. Now”, her wary eye turned to the  _ dragon _ a few feet away, “And get off that-  _ that _ ”

 

Somehow the twins looked  _ relieved _ and gave her sympathetic and  _ thankful _ looks. But they complied like nothing was wrong and they  _ hadn’t _ just shown her that at least Kernel rode a dragon. 

 

It was official. Astrid would never get the Haddock twins. 

 

(As they’d find out later, that wasn’t quite true. There was no one else who could understand them  _ better _ . Except for Springer and Toothless, but still) 

 

xXXx

 

The three vikings and dragon sat on the rock Kernel had jumped off of just under a minute ago. She was petting Springer who laid lazily on the rock beside her. Hiccup was next to Kernel and Astrid sat across from the twins, a good way away from Springer. 

 

“So. Start talking”, the warrior demanded. 

 

A shared glance and Hiccup started, “Remember the last raid? When I said I shot down a Night Fury?” 

 

Astrid nodded. Of course she did! He’d accidentally destroyed four houses. One of them her cousin’s. She’d been right there when it had happened even. And had watched the twins get escorted home by Gobber. 

 

“Well, I actually  _ did _ shoot down a Night Fury”, he told her and Astrid took a moment to look at him in shock, “We went looking for it that same day right after the raid and almost thought we lost it. Then we stumbled across a fallen tree and found this black dragon lying on the ground, wrapped in ropes from the bola my invention threw” 

 

Kernel continued, “We approached it so that Hiccup could kill it and make his life better but  _ this _ dragoness here-”, she scratched Springer’s snout, “-jumped out from the bushes and protected him. We’d never seen dragons do that before, you know? And that got me thinking if they could feel, think and stuff. Like us humans. After that, well… I couldn’t just watch him get killed or leave him. So I cut him free” 

 

Astrid’s eyes widened. But that…  _ how _ were they  _ alive!? _ Hiccup seemed to know what she was thinking and smiled wanly. 

 

“I know, right? Crazy!”, he said and got smacked by his sister in protest, “But after that he just jumped in front of Springer to protect her. Just like  _ me _ when I thought  _ he’d _ attack Kernel. And that was when it just… clicked. Dragons had families, like us. Those two dragons consider each other family” 

 

Okay. Wow. That had really happened? Astrid could kind of see it. But  _ if _ that happened then… 

 

“Then why did you come to dragon training?”, she asked. 

 

Two grimaces. And one word as if from one mouth. 

 

“Dad”, they said.  

 

And that was explanation enough. If the village leader said you went, you went. Like it or not. It was bad luck the village leader just happened to be their father. Astrid felt for them. They’d just found out they didn’t want to fight dragons and had to anyway. 

 

Kernel continued, “After that we came looking for them because the Night Fury had been hurt by the bola and we… dunno, wanted to help maybe? Something?”, she sent a questioning look to her brother who just nodded in agreement, “Well, we found them here. Both of them. And then we just kept coming after training and they started to trust us and we them and all these things kept piling up until we found ourselves riding dragons” 

 

A moment of silence to let Astrid digest that. Then Hiccup concluded the story. 

 

“When we realized that we were best friends with our enemies and that everyone in our village would kill them once they found out, we came up with a plan of sorts: Try to convince them dragons aren’t all they seem and stop this war once and for all… That’s pretty much it” 

 

Astrid was quiet for a long moment. That all had happened. Here. With these twins. And they had found a way to stop the hundreds of years old war. She was right to listen to them. Also, if  _ this _ wasn’t a good reason to keep their methods secret she didn’t know what was. They were brave and loyal friends to the dragons, and would most likely be to everyone who was like that to them. And the  _ dragons _ . Just…  _ whoa _ . She had one question. 

 

“Where’s the Night Fury?”, she asked, looking to Hiccup. 

 

The twins slumped in relief and grinned at her so widely it had to hurt. 

 

“Toothless! Here!”, Hiccup shouted out and was answered by a dragon roar. He stood up and started jumping down the rocks with practiced ease. Astrid stood too with Kernel and the dra-  _ Springer _ to watch him land on a black scaled dragon that was slightly bigger than the unknown dragon species. The teen took something that was attached to the saddle and pulled it slightly when they took to the air. Astrid watched with awe as they flew a circle and landed on the rock, ‘Toothless’ looking at her curiously. A moment of structinicing each other and the viking girl grinned slightly. 

 

“Can I try?”, she asked and Kernel and Hiccup smiled back, knowing they’d just earned themselves a new friend. 


	8. Secret Shared

 

Somehow it wasn’t that hard to introduce Astrid to the dragons after. She flew with Tooth and Hiccup because it wasn’t as abrupt loops and spins and oh-please-no-I’m-gonna-fall like being on Springer’s back. Really, sometimes the dragoness was like a rollercoaster, not that anyone but Kernel knew what one was. 

 

_ A rollercoaster with  _ extra _ tight turns _ , Kernel amended when she remembered  _ some _ of the stunts her partner/other self/best friend had pulled off at the start of their flying experiences. 

 

She would think the dragon was a hummingbird what with those hairpin turns. And Springer  _ could _ actually fly backwards. Like a hummingbird. 

 

_ Should’ve named her Hummer _ , the viking girl thought as they went loop-de-loop around Toothless and his riders. Springer was excited to have a new friend here. She was more playful than usual. 

 

“This. Is. _ Amazing! _ ”, Astrid shouted over the wind as they flew around the forest, not going to the higher altitudes because Toothless’ tailfin was still hard to control without the new system they’d come up with. It only opened all the way or not at all. 

 

“Isn’t it?”, Hiccup grinned in front of her while steering them back towards the cove. His sister followed without complications. Springer’s agility in the air was helpful at least  _ sometimes _ . 

 

The two dragons landed and let their riders down, Astrid almost bouncing from the adrenaline rush. It had been way beyond  _ anything _ she had experienced before. 

 

“So, what’s Springer’s species?”, the viking girl asked, cautiously walking to the brown/orange/turquoise dragon to pet her. 

 

“Wind Chaser”, Hiccup and Kernel stated proudly. The girl twin didn’t waste time in rattling off her dragon’s awesome abilities, “We named her after seeing her fly once. She has the best agility I’ve ever seen from a dragon. She can’t shoot fire but gusts of powerful wind.  _ And _ she’s able to change her temperature! She stores hot and cold inside her to use later as she pleases” 

 

Astrid looked suitably impressed. Her curious eyes turned to Hiccup. Kernel frowned when she noticed him nodding off slightly. 

 

“What are a Night Fury’s abilities, then?”, the axe wielder asked. 

 

Hiccup blinked back to awareness before grinning proudly, “May I introduce you to the wonders of Night Furies?”, he started in a showmannish way Kernel would tease him for later, “This little guy can shoot pure explosive  _ plasma _ , an extremely hot kind of fire, and shoots  _ exactly _ on target. Can be used for different applications. Sharp dives are his speciality as is speed and, while not on Springer’s level, his agility is nothing to scoff at”, a hand was thrown around a tolerating and proud looking Toothless, “Also able to perfectly blend into the night. Amazing stealth and intelligence, if I say so myself” 

 

Astrid was smirking in amusement. Hiccup made for good entertainment. Especially when his dragon friend got bored and let him fall to the ground as he stalked off to something more interesting. The teen glared at him for ruining the show. Kernel snickered as she walked to her brother who was now resting on the ground with half lidded eyes. 

 

“C’mon, you. We have to get you to bed. You barely slept last night!”, she admonished and lifted an arm around her shoulders, supporting him. 

 

“‘m fine”, he mumbled, “Hav’ ta show Astrid th’ way back” 

 

Kernel looked to the blonde and deadpanned at him, “I think she could figure it out herself” 

 

The viking girl’s expression said ‘duh’. But her face showed concern at the dead-on-his-feet Hiccup. 

 

“Is he going to be okay?” 

 

Kernel hauled her brother over to Springer and her, “Yup. He’ll be fine and dandy tomorrow. Help me out, please?”, she gestured for Astrid to push him up in front of her as she got herself on Springer’s saddle. She did as asked frowning at the really tired looking boy. 

 

Kernel looked down at Springer, then glanced at Astrid. She figured the dragon had enough wingpower to keep three humans in the air. A silent enquiry via link confirmed that. 

 

“Okay, girl, get us all up”, she told Springer who chirped and jumped into the air, carefully grabbing Astrid’s shoulders in her talons before flying up (luckily with no extra maneuvers) and getting them safely where they left the blonde’s axe. 

 

The Wind Chaser dropped Astrid off gently before landing herself and letting Kernel come down, helping a half-aware Hiccup. Then she flew off to join her brother in the cove. The viking girls got the axe before starting their treck home. After a while Astrid took Hiccup’s other arm around her shoulders and they made their way back with more speed. Kernel shot her a grateful look. Luckily their house was at the edge of the village and easy to get in unnoticed. Astrid was beckoned in by Kernel and they got the boy upstairs. The guest curiously looked around the mess of papers and drawings. 

 

“That’s what he was doing last night”, she whispered quietly. Astrid shot a surprised glance at Hiccup before her mouth quirked into a smile. The teen was fast asleep. 

 

The two watched him for a moment before out of nowhere Astrid punched her shoulder, “ _ That’s _ for scaring me” 

 

Kernel had the grace to look sheepish and apologetic as he rubbed the aching spot. Then the other girl hugged her and the dragon rider was left speechless. No one else but Hiccup and their Dad had hugged her this life. When the blonde pulled back she was smiling. 

 

“And that’s for everything else. See you tomorrow and tell Hiccup thanks for me!”, and with that the Hofferson girl turned to get out of the chief’s house. 

 

“Yeah. See you”, Kernel smiled at her retreating back. 

 

She flopped on her bed to watch Hiccup sleep, wondering how they had gotten so lucky that another viking  _ knew _ their secret now and was their  _ friend _ for it. She watched her brother’s chest rise and fall. Her eyelids started getting heavy and fluttered shut. 

 

This was an amazing day for sure. 


	9. Flying Around

 

“Thor’s mighty hammer,  _ Astrid knows! _ ”, was Hiccup’s true wake up call when he was already almost dressed.  

 

At first he’d thought he’d seen a nice dream where the reveal went over well and they’d gone flying  _ together _ (he really, really liked that part what with his crush on her). But then Kernel had told him sleepily that Astrid said thanks for yesterday and everything just clicked in place. 

 

Said sister was watching him with a raised eyebrow as she pulled her usual green shoulder wrap over her dark turquoise shirt. It was tied by the waist with a leather belt and the hem had been split to give more maneuverability. That one was a recent addition for riding purposes. Otherwise the shirt was more like a dress as it reached her knees, covering her usual brown pants partly. 

 

“Well, duh…”, she pulled on her boots that were like a slightly slimmer model of Hiccup’s. Then she snorted, “Don’t tell me you thought yesterday was a dream” 

 

Her backpack was thrown at her in retaliation and she caught it with a slight ‘oof’. It was confirmation enough and she laughed lightly and waited for her brother to get ready. He threw on his sleeveless furred leather jacket and they pushed out of the door to go to dragon training. 

 

Whatever happened from now on it was bound to be interesting. 

 

Plus, they would  _ finally _ get to testing the flying controls today! And Astrid could come too! 

 

xXXx

 

“I can't _believe_ this!”, Astrid hissed through her teeth as she watched wide eyed from the bushes at three children playing with Terrible Terrors, “You've been doing this since _last_ _week!?_ All for the sake of convincing people dragons aren't all bad?” 

 

The twins just glanced at each other and shrugged. They didn't see what the big deal was since they  _ had  _ to make their village a safer place for their best friends. This was just one of the methods. 

 

“Pretty much. Now let's go back. I wanna put this on Toothless”, Hiccup whispered and started sneaking away, a bundle in his arms full of the twins’ newest invention. 

 

Kernel followed with one last glance at the laughing kids. They weren't bigger than five or six. She started following her brother and left Astrid gaping for a moment longer. The blonde was trying to comprehend the lengths the twins would go for friends and then just smiled fondly at the scene. She turned to go after them a few seconds later. It didn't take long for the trio to get far enough for not being overheard and Astrid took the chance to pick their brains on the tactics they used in the ring. She was kind of envious of them to be honest. Having their own  _ dragons _ and  _ riding _ them. Though if what she heard and saw of Springer's flying she didn't want to try it. Toothless was enough, thanks. 

 

She still hoped to have her own one day. Perhaps when they managed to get a stop to this war. 

 

The twins had filled her in as to why dragons raided them. That they didn't really  _ want _ to but they  _ had _ to or they'd die. Astrid was sure the twins would try everything to help.  _ She _ wanted to help. Never before had she felt such sympathy towards dragons. 

 

Then they reached the cove and got to putting the flying control thing on Toothless. Astrid helped with putting it together, being much stronger than either twin and thus having an easier time to put some of the parts together. Really, you wouldn't  _ believe _ she found out only yesterday! But the twins were glad for it. 

 

“Okay. Done!”, Hiccup rose to his feet to admire the job. Toothless curiously turned to look at it and ended up going in circles. 

 

Everyone laughed and got ready for a flight. Or, well. Hiccup and Kernel were readying for a flight and Astrid decided to watch from the sidelines. Only because she didn't want to fall from a height. Or get drenched. It didn't take  _ too _ long for Hiccup to figure out how the tail worked and the twins felt ready to try their longest ride yet. Over the ocean! 

 

“Astrid? Wanna come?”, Hiccup asked the blonde who regarded him for a second. 

 

“Are you  _ sure _ you won't fall?”, she asked suspiciously. 

 

A confident smile, “Of course”, he reached a hand out to help her in the saddle. Astrid took it with a smirk. 

 

“Let's fly then!” 

 

Kernel watched their interaction with a smile. Looked like this might just be a working couple of they started dating. She looked at her dragon and grinned. 

 

“Ready Springer?”, she asked, settling comfortably in the saddle and holding on. 

 

Her answer was an excited screech and two wingbeats that took them high up into the sky. And of course a barrel roll that she'd by now learned to anticipate. Or some similar trick. Only seconds later they were joined by a black scaled dragon. Hiccup gave them a smug grin Tooth echoed. 

 

“Race you?”, he challenged. 

 

Kernel grinned, a glint entering her eyes, “You're on!” 

 

Astrid looked a little nervous but calmed herself with a breath and tightening her grip on Hiccup. 

 

“Okay. I'll count to three”, she told them, “One! Two! Thre _ e-eee! _ ”, the dragons took off making her yelp. 

 

They were quite evenly matched. Toothless was faster but he couldn't read air currents like Springer. And he had two riders which slowed him a little. Normally it would be a win for him but today Springer had the advantage. The wind was flowing favorably. And if it didn't, she could shoot a blast forward and  _ make _ them. At least for a little bit. Springer raced amongst treetops like they weren't there, circling and moving with Kernel holding on admirably. Toothless’ wing beats were steady and fast. They were first, then second, then first again and the shore was only a little bit ahead. Springer caught a gust of wind under her wings and sprang forward in the last moment. 

 

“Goal!”, Kernel and Hiccup shouted at the same time, “We won!” 

 

Astrid was panting hard and looking a bit dazed but had a happy and exhilarated smile on her face. The twins frowned at each other. 

 

“No,  _ we _ won!”, they said at the same time. Looks of frustration, “Stop that!” 

 

The blonde laughed at their antics breathlessly and got two pouty glares in response, “Y- You guys! Hahaha! You're  _ hilarious! _ ” 

 

“Are  _ not! _ ”, they protested, then glanced at each other in sync before chuckling. It  _ was _ pretty funny. 

 

Astrid was now clutching her sides. The twins looked at her with eyes that said that was a bit  _ too _ far. 

 

Hiccup looked to Kernel, “It's not  _ that _ funny, is it?” 

 

His sister shrugged. Maybe the girl was still riding off the adrenaline high. Scratch that, she most certainly was. She smiled a bit at the scene though. She was glad Astrid  _ was _ this relaxed with them. Kernel met her brother's eyes. 

 

“Ready to go up?” 

 

Hiccup nodded, “Ready” 

 

Astrid took a moment to calm herself and then wrapped her arms comfortably around the boy in front of her, “Ready!” 

 

And they were off. 

 

Oh how they wanted to show this to all the vikings! It would be wonderful to do this with all the others. 

 

But first they could fly with just the five of them. And that was enough for now. 

 

xXXx

 

A few days went by with the siblings and Astrid bonding through their secret and finding out more about dragons. But one time they went flying in the clouds and suddenly found themselves in a swarm of dragons carrying their catch. Tooth and Spring were in the middle, as if following something. Kernel sent a wary and questioning feeling through her bond with her dragon. A worried and muffled answer. Like she wasn't entirely in control. Her eyes narrowed. 

 

“Something's controlling them somehow”, she informed Hiccup and Astrid quietly. 

 

The brown haired boy gulped silently but was filled with the same determination as her. They would make the controlling stop. The dragons flew in between rock formations and Kernel briefly wondered if they'd run into their Dad but dismissed it. No one had gotten this close to the dragon nest and that was  _ definitely _ where they were headed. She just worried what they'd find there. Did they have to witness dragons eating the food? Getting  _ eaten _ by something? There  _ had _ to be a threat of some kind there. Threat enough for Tooth and Spring to help the raids. 

 

A cave. They flew through a cave smoothly and quietly, like a shadow. They came to a orange glowing giant pit where all the dragons dispersed and the slight control slipped, making Tooth and Spring find a hiding place in shadows. The other dragons dropped their catch into the hole as the three teens held their breath. Something had to be down there. 

 

That  _ something _ raised its head to grab a flying dragon. 

 

It. Was.  _ Enormous. _

 

“ _ That's _ the- the…?”, Astrid whispered in horror. 

 

They stared for a moment longer with wide eyes until everything started acting up and it became clear they needed to get out. Like right  _ now _ . Their dragons understood the riders’ intentions and sprang to action, Springer using her agility to get through the dragon swarm and Toothless just speeding his way through. 

 

The giant head of the- the  _ creature _ followed. And almost snatched Hiccup and Astrid, making Kernel's breath catch. 

 

_ I  _ hate  _ close calls _ , she thought with relief as they made it out and into the cold night sky. 

 

It had been a long flight. The trip back to Berk was spent in silence. Everyone was thinking of this turn of events and how it'd impact their lives. 

 

“How are we supposed to get rid of that- that  _ thing? _ ”, Astrid asked once they were almost at the cove, “It’s like the dragon Alpha!” 

 

Hiccup frowned in worry and thought, “We'll come up with something…” 

 

“In the meanwhile”, Kernel voiced her own worries, “How are we supposed to convince everyone of… all  _ that? _ ” 

 

At times like these she wished cameras existed here. Pictures and videos that could be shown to others. It would be preferable that there was no way to use something like Photoshop either. Genjutsu or general illusions would've worked too… or she could've invented reverse legilimency as Hermione. Alas, all those things didn't exist here. It was only her, her wit, her brother and their dragons. And their newest friend. 

 

Hiccup sighed tiredly, “Just what we need. Another crazy hard job on the list” 

 

Astrid looked up to the moon and smiled wanly, “Look on the bright side, guys” 

 

The twins turned to her, wanting to hear what the  _ bright _ side to this situation was. The warrior's slight smile widened. 

 

“You’ve got a knack for making this ‘crazy hard’ work” 

 

Even with the somber mood they cracked a small smile at that. Astrid's confidence in them was uplifting. Plus, she was kind of right. They  _ did _ make this thing called 'against all logic’ look rather easy. They just hoped it would stay that way. 

 

Dad  _ had _ to get back home soon. He  _ had _ to. The twins didn’t want him to face that giant dragon. 

 


	10. Moment of Truth

 

“We’ll tell the others”, Hiccup decided the next morning as they met up with Astrid for dragon training. 

 

The blonde gave them a searching look and nodded, “Gobber too?” 

 

Kernel smiled and thought they’d picked their friend well. No denial. No asking why are you doing this. Just acceptance and understanding. It was relieving after having to be ridiculed and ignored by their peers. 

 

She was still sure that if they’d go to try something completely out of bounds they’d hear of it. 

 

Hiccup was on the same wavelength, as usual. He gave Astrid a determined nod and started explaining the plan they’d come up with last night. Kernel was having a hard time breaking that habit she may or may not have unintentionally started. Moody childhood years were annoying afterwords. Though it had been very sweet of her brother to stay up with her and watch the moon and stars. He was always tinkering with something while staying close, knowing she needed the comfort. Now it paid as sleepless invention nights. 

 

Astrid was looking more and more hopeful of this whole scam working. Hiccup smirked at the girls. 

 

“Got it?”, both gave a confident smirk back and he grinned, “Let’s get this show going” 

 

xXXx

 

The twins weren’t sure if they could put it in action  _ today _ but it seemed like they could. Only Gothi, the village’s eldest, was watching and Gobber took out the Hideous Zippleback. This time, when the fog rolled out, Hiccup and Kernel snuck into the beast’s cage while the others evaded the Zippleback. They had dragon nip with them, just in case. Astrid had insisted. 

 

Training lasted half an hour before the dragon was ushered back in by Gobber, the twins staying in shadows. The door closed. Kernel lit their little invention from a while back. One based on lighters. It paid to be prepared and now they had a torch. A light source. It reminded them of the time when they found Hideout. The Zippleback turned towards the light and stared at them curiously. Neither twin had weapons and the torch was just propped against the wall. Hiccup slowly sat down. Kernel followed suit. 

 

The dragon approached them curiously, feeling strangely unthreatened. A meter away they just stopped and sniffed. Both heads chose one twin and the two viking children reached slowly, heads bowed and eyes closed. Just ten centimeters away the hands stopped for the dragon to sniff at them. 

 

Hiccup and Kernel weren’t sure what they smelled (probably Tooth’s and Spring’s scent) but they let out a low content sound and their eyes weren’t slits anymore. They reached forward and heads and hands touched. The twins glanced at each other with a smile before breathing deeply. It was now or never. They made the dragon as comfortable with their presence as possible. Kernel offered the heads dragon nip. Hiccup kept petting them. Outside came noise as the others panicked over the missing twins. They hushed the dragon. Two ropes were out and gently wrapped around their necks as the two asked silently for permission to mount. It didn’t take  _ too _ long. 

 

Surprising. Or maybe not. These dragons were pretty trusting once you gave them trust. 

 

Hiccup called out when someone suggested looking in the cage. 

 

“Uh, Gobber?”, he shouted through the door, “Please don’t point weapons at us! We got this!” 

 

Astrid was very convincing in her conviction of them being safe. Gobber agreed after she told them her piece, though his voice was somewhat alarmed and frantic. The gate opened slowly. No gas or fog came out. Instead the whole class sans Astrid was left gaping at the two riding the Zippleback who cautiously came out. Kernel and Hiccup awkwardly looked from one shocked face to another, wondering how they’d react. 

 

“Err… Turns out it…  _ doesn’t _ want to kill us?”, the boy twin said awkwardly. It was more like a question than a statement. 

 

No one snapped out of it. Astrid walked towards them cautiously, axe left behind, and reached up towards Hiccup’s seat. The dragon obliged and leaned down to get scratched by the viking girl. She smiled fondly. 

 

“Huh. What do you know, it’s a big softie!” 

 

Kernel petted the spark head she was sitting on. 

 

“M-hm!”, she agreed before slipping down from it and giving it a small fish she had been carrying in her backpack. 

 

The dragon took it eagerly and munched. It seems the other head was jealous because it came poking at her shoulder for another one. Kernel laughed lightly and complied. All the while the class stared, not believing their eyes. Fishlegs was open mouthed, trying to comprehend that the information in the dragon manual was ridiculously out of date. Snotlout was staring at his cousins with renewed eyes. They were crazy. That had to be it. Because there was  _ no way _ those two were  _ riding _ a  _ dragon _ . 

 

Thorston twins had only one thing in mind as they walked forward. 

 

_ I want to try. _

 

The Haddock twins looked at the two (their determined expressions of awe, their smiles) and grinned lightly. The Zippleback seemed intrigued by them. Seemed like the dragon found his, er, their riders. 

 

“That’s  _ awesome! _ Let me try!”, Tuffnut said eagerly as he bounded closer. 

 

Ruffnut immediately butted in too while punching her twin’s hand away, “No, me!”

 

Hiccup glanced at their shell shocked audience, shrugged, and got down, “Okay… Ruffnut, you get this head. Tuffnut, the other” 

 

It didn’t take long for the other twins to climb on their spots, vibrating with excitement. 

 

“We can cause so many explosions with this!”, the boy twin stated. 

 

“Ooh, yeah!”, Ruffnut agreed. Her dragon seemed happy and shot out a bit of gas. The rider giggled menacingly and decided on a name then and there, “Your name is Barf” 

 

At the same time Tuffnut had come to a name conclusion, “Your name is Belch” 

 

The twins glared at each other. Gobber came out of his shock and looked to Hiccup and Kernel, scratching his head. 

 

“Eh. Am I right in assuming you two are the source of Hooligan village’s dragon related rumors? And the arguing?”, he gestured to the two who sheepishly looked back. 

 

This still seemed to go better than they thought it would. The Haddock twins nodded slightly, Hiccup taking the lead. 

 

“Yeah. We’ve been learning new things about them since the last raid… As you can see, dragons are no bloodthirsty creatures. They’re a bit like us, really”, he said, gesturing to the twins who were arguing with each other on dragon heads as the dragon heads seemed to bicker too, “Which is why we’ve been trying to convince everyone that there’s more to dragons than meets the eye” 

 

Fishlegs seemed to come out of his shock the same time Snotlout did. Hiccup didn’t get the chance to continue as the two gathered around them and started asking questions, Snotlout demanding them to get him a Monstrous Nightmare to ride and Fishlegs asking all kinds of things of what they’d learned. Neither really gave the twins room to respond. They shared a glance and then gave a loud whistle to silence everyone. Astrid came to stand by them. 

 

Hiccup took a deep breath and straightened, “Okay. As you can see, there’s more to dragons than we know. And we’d like to teach you about it all”, his eyes found the lone spectator to this day’s dragon training. A rare occurrence nowadays, but welcomed. Gothi had come to the arena and gestured for him to continue, indicating for everyone to listen. 

 

He swallowed slightly and gestured to the three of them, himself, Kernel and Astrid, “Our goal has been for the last two weeks to tell the whole village of this. And we’d like you to help. Are you in?” 

 

Everyone kind of glanced at each other collectively, then at the twins who were wearing looks of incomprehension and sitting on the dragon like they were born to do it, and then to the three best recruits. 

 

Fishlegs seemed uncomfortable, “Uhh, this goes against everything the vikings have believed for three hundred years… The uproar this will cause is  _ massive! _ ”

 

“Eh, I don’t really get it. But it sounds destructive. I’m in”, Tuffnut stated. 

 

“You three are totally crazy!”, Ruffnut told them, “...I like it. I’m in” 

 

Snotlout’s bravado shone, “Who cares about all that? I get a  _ Monstrous Nightmare _ out of this! I’m in” 

 

Fishlegs looked from Astrid, to the pair of twins, to Snotlout and then to the dragon. It would seem everyone was in favor and he wanted to learn more so, “...I’m in”, he squeaked. The whole thing would be scary and world changing but it’d be worth it, he thought. 

 

All eyes turned to Gobber who had watched the whole thing and chuckled. He was proud of Hiccup for this, the stubborn little toothpick. He caused trouble everywhere he went but this was him getting out of his shell. Gobber would be a fool not to support him. 

 

“Well, ‘iccup. Seems like you’ll be the teacher for today” 

 

The trio grinned from ear to ear and started educating everyone of the  _ true _ nature of dragons. They wouldn’t mention the Alpha until a bit later, but this was the most progress in two weeks. The whole of dragon training class got their own dragons! Astrid was ecstatic about that as she met the Deadly Nadder again but in peaceful terms. At this rate, they’d have the whole village convinced in less than a week! 

 

That would only leave… 

 

…Dad. 


	11. Rescue Mission

 

“You know… I’m worried”, Kernel confided in her brother the next day. 

 

It was a testament to their closeness that Hiccup immediately understood what she meant. And where this would go. And what would happen if she did what he thought she’d do. Dread dropped in the pit of his stomach. The pencil Hiccup held fell and he whirled around with fear in his eyes. 

 

“Kernel,  _ no! _ ” 

 

Her sister only stared at him with those green eyes that conveyed exactly  _ how _ worried she was and what she was going to do about it. It was a worry he shared but this was just- No! Hiccup ran a hand through his hair and wondered what he could do so that she’d stop thinking about this- this  _ ridiculously _ reckless thing she was about to do. He came to the frustrating conclusion of nothing. He looked into her eyes again, desperate. 

 

“ _ Please _ ”, he begged, not wanting her to go. 

 

It would endanger her, Springer and maybe every dragon in Berk at the moment. There was also the fact that he’d go with her and that got Toothless there too. 

 

Kernel smiled sadly, “I have to”  _ and you don’t.  _

 

A withering glare, “No”  _ don’t you  _ dare _ leave me out.  _

 

They were locked in a staring contest before Kernel chuckled lightly, “What a pair we are” 

 

Hiccup couldn’t do anything else but agree even though he dreaded what they were about to do. Astrid would probably want in on it. He… didn’t want her in danger either. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. Kernel rose to prepare. Hiccup rose to tell Astrid. He swallowed, looking at the sky. 

 

This mission would be sink or swim. No in-betweens. 

 

xXXx

 

Apparently, they absolutely could not go without the whole of dragon training class. 

 

Snotlout was immediately of the mind that no one in the group would survive without him. Fishlegs was nervous but determined. The twins were never going to turn down something that let them be destructive and had explosions in it. Even if it was only a possibility. Astrid wasn’t going to hear of getting left behind on something as important as this. Gobber didn’t have a dragon. But he was determined to give them everything they would ever need for this. He was a bit worried too, he admitted. 

 

Kernel and Hiccup were overwhelmed by the support and welcomed everyone to the team as long as they knew the risks. 

 

“This might get us killed, banished, declared as traitors or worse and you still want to go?”, the boy of the twins asked. 

 

Kernel quirked a brow at him, “Pessimistic, much? He’s our  _ Dad! _ ” 

 

Hiccup gave her a slight glare and she could tell he doubted his father loved him as much as Kernel. It sent a pang through her heart. 

 

“ _ We’re _ his children. But  _ they’re _ not”, he pointed out logically. 

 

She didn’t waste time in poking his logic full of holes, “ _ They’re _ the village’s newest warriors and blacksmith, also known as Stoick’s  _ best friend _ . You think he would turn that down without hearing us out? Besides our Dad is a fair leader, if sometimes stubborn like us and rash with some decisions” 

 

Hiccup’s glare faltered as he conceded the point but muttered something about how Kernel was being rash too. What would stop Stoick being rash? She stared at him with a look that said she had faith that all would be fine. 

 

With that they were ready to go, all within two hours. 

 

They were clear out of the village. Gobber had got out the dragons by telling the vikings it was for further training. A test of sorts. In reality it was a search-and-rescue-if-in-trouble mission. Stoick would be getting help in the form of dragons and had to make with that what he would. No way were the twins going to let their father onto dragon island without knowing  _ exactly _ what he’d be facing. Maybe not even then unless he accepted some more firepower… 

 

They all hoped, for the village’s and the dragons’ sake, that he would. 

 

xXXx

 

Stoick released a battle cry as he charged a Monstrous Nightmare trying to fry their ship. It screeched and breathed flames at him while its burning skin turned arrows to ashes. He hit the dragon with his hammer and got it to retreat a little, which gave the vikings time to turn the ship around. Stoick watched with determination as the dragon surged forward and got ready to meet the beast head on. He lifted his hammer again before his eyes widened as he realized the dragon was going for the sail. 

 

“Pull the sail, pull the sail!”, he shouted over the sounds of battle as his people held off a Gronckle that was almost out of shots and a Zippleback that had just recently joined the fight. 

 

It had been a little over three weeks now, in this fog. Fighting for their lives and worrying for food supplies that were dwindling. They’d have to turn back soon. They hadn’t gotten anywhere with this trip. One ship had sunk and had taken a fifth of their warriors with it. One of the best fighters amongst them. It was a honorable death but they would be mourned. He was sure their names and story would be whispered with respect to future generations. 

 

The flames missed the sail by a margin as one of the vikings pulled it out of the way. It made them go slightly off course, but they wouldn’t be crippled by a damaged sail. The thing was ragged enough as is. 

 

Unfortunately the Nightmare wasn’t done. It drew in a breath as if to fire again… and Stoick whipped his head around at a Night Fury’s screech. 

 

“Night Fury!” 

 

“Get down!” 

 

What was it doing here? In all the other times they’d ventured to destroy the nest it had stayed far away. They hadn’t seen hide or tail of it, ever! The creature only attacked on some nights and always  _ at _ night. 

 

And purple shot flew. But it… 

 

…didn’t hit. 

 

Stoick’s eyebrows shot up as he realized it  _ had _ hit but not  _ them _ . It had hit the  _ Monstrous Nightmare! _ Impossible! Had it missed? But Night Furies  _ never _ missed. That left a possibility that it had  _ meant _ to hit its kin. As if… protecting them. But it was a  _ dragon _ . Dragons didn’t protect, they attacked and raided. 

 

As if to prove him wrong another blast of purple fire hit the Gronckle to make it back off. 

 

He stood there, dazed for a moment, before barking orders of ‘get away from here’ and ‘look out for the Night Fury’ and as an afterthought ‘focus on the ones attacking us first’. The Zippleback was shooting gas again. A Nadder’s flame shot out from the fog and lit it. The explosion didn’t damage their ships. In fact, it  _ saved _ them. 

 

Why were there dragons  _ helping _ them? Did they have an ulterior motive? Or was he just reading too much into it? 

 

Stoick decided to adopt the policy of act first, think later. For now he would assume the dragons were aiding them for their own gain and would attack after disposing of the others. He was a bit glad for the (maybe) unintended help or they would’ve lost another ship. They had three when they came, it would be hard to return with only one. 

 

“Turn port! We’re heading home!”, he shouted to the vikings and got relieved shouts and agreements back. It had been an exhausting month. 

 

Now they’d have to get out of here. 

 

For some reason they were aided by five different kinds of dragon fire and gusts of powerful wind. Stoick was grateful. And baffled. And determined to think about it later. 

 

Maybe Loge and Kári, sibling gods of fire and wind, were helping them? 

 

xXXx

 

Hiccup and company watched from their hiding places on dragons and behind the giant boulders surrounding the nest as their father, their leader, led the ships towards home. He sighed in relief. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Kernel nudged him from her perch on Springer’s back encouragingly. He smiled. They’d done it. They’d come to the nest and helped their clan get out of dangerous waters. All the while staying hidden. The fog was clearing where the ships were going and no more dragons tried to attack. 

 

The twins were snickering about something. It didn’t take long to find out as Tuffnut cackled. 

 

“Did you see their  _ faces? _ ”, he laughed. 

 

Yes, Hiccup  _ had _ seen them. Wide eyed disbelief all the way. A sort of ‘did I just see what I think I saw’. Open mouths and raised eyebrows. They’d been doing double takes. He couldn’t keep the small huff of laughter in. He could kind of see why the twins found this amusing. Kernel was suppressing an amused grin right beside him so he guessed she saw it too. 

 

Astrid petted her Nadder (she had a  _ dragon! _ ) in thanks, “Good girl”, she told her, “You did great Stormfly” 

 

Now she just hoped she could keep her. If Stoick decided not… She forced the thoughts back and looked to the Haddock twins that had showed this to her. They wouldn’t let anything get between them and their dragons. She would believe in them getting this right too. Just then Snotlout leaned towards her, arrogance oozing off him (quite like his Nightmare), and gave her a smirk. 

 

“Did you see that, Astrid?”, he asked, kissing his biceps, “I was  _ awesome! _ Think we could go out?” 

 

The blonde gave the black haired teen an unimpressed stare before looking to the guy’s dragon. She grabbed something from her pouch and lifted it up. The Nightmare’s eyes followed. 

 

“Hookfang?”, she said to the red scaled dragon, “Fetch!”, and she threw the fish. 

 

Snotlout screamed as his dragon bolted after it, tongue lolling from his mouth like a dog’s, “Hookfang,  _ noooo! _ ” 

 

Astrid watched in satisfaction before turning to see four twins and Fishlegs looking at her with wide eyes. She frowned slightly, “What?” 

 

Fishlegs just shook his head mutely, “Remind me not to get on your bad side” 

 

The Thorston twins shared a conspiratory look. Only to get their helmets bonked by Springer’s and Toothless’ wings. The other twins were giving the two blonds warning stares. 

 

“ _ No! _ ”, they said at the same time. 

 

Astrid looked from one teen to another before deciding to just ignore it all and get back home. 

 

“Stormfly, let’s blow this joint”, she told her dragon and they flew off, staying clear of the viking ships. 

 

Thorston twins weren’t far behind, determined to annoy the other blonde. 

 

“Barf, after her!”, yelled Ruffnut. 

 

“No! Belch, get there first!”, Tuffnut ordered the dragon head under him while ignoring, or forgetting, the fact they rode a Zippleback. 

 

Fishlegs looked to the Haddocks, “Uhh, I better go after them. Meatlug, get us up girl!” 

 

And he flew off on his Gronckle. The twins shared a look and marveled at how comfortable the others had grown with their dragons. Hiccup looked where Hookfang had flown their cousin. 

 

“Snotlout? We’re going home now! Can you find a way back?” 

 

A muffled agreement was their answer, along with a shout for Hookfang to get back there and fly them home. Kernel wondered if he would  _ really _ be alright. Hiccup just shook his head and sighed. 

 

“I’ll get him. You go home. Dad’ll be back there by evening…” 

 

Kernel smiled at him, “Don’t worry. It’ll be alright”, and took off. 

 

Hiccup watched after her and hoped for everyone’s sake that she was right. 


	12. Telling the Truth

 

About halfway home Kernel was feeling nervous. About a lot of things. Like, what would their Dad say? They had kind of betrayed him and went behind his back… And Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. It was expected because he had Snotlout to steer back home but somehow it gave her a bad feeling. Call it twin sense. She wanted to turn back and make  _ sure _ the two were alright but knew better than to leave the others, who had just started riding dragons, alone. So she buried her worries and participated in small talk. 

 

Fishlegs asked about dragons, as usual, and Astrid told them of good ways to practice muscles or new stunts. The Thorstons bickered and added their own tidbits of good pranks. It was lighthearted as none of them wanted to think of what would happen once they got home. Though she doubted Ruffnut and Tuffnut really got it. 

 

The journey took about an hour as opposed to the four by ships. Gobber was waiting for them with a campfire and cooked fish. 

 

“Where’s Hiccup? And Sno’lout?”, was his first question as they all landed. 

 

“They’ll catch up soon”, Astrid told him as she slid down from Stormfly’s back. 

 

Kernel dismounted too, “Yeah… Astrid pulled a trick on Snotlout and Hiccup stayed to sort it out” 

 

She got a hit on her shoulder for that and snickered a bit. Gobber took the explanation at face value, grinning. 

 

“I take ‘t went well?”, he gestured to their relaxed expressions and interaction. 

 

Tuffnut and Ruffnut started laughing mischievously again. Fishlegs shot them a disapproving look before turning to their teacher excitably. 

 

“Yes! We helped them get out of the fog. They’re on their way now”, he told Gobber. 

 

Everyone settled around the campfire to eat their share. There was fish for the dragons too. Stories were exchanged and jokes told. Kernel couldn’t shake off the worry she’d felt since a while ago. She grew fidgety and glanced at the sky more often. It was steadily growing more orange as the sun set. 

 

There were no dragons flying towards them. And it had been almost two hours since they separated. 

 

_ Hiccup can take care of himself _ , she thought again and again to squash the feeling. 

 

But two hours was long. Too long. He might not be as alright as she wanted him to. Had he gotten caught up in the Alpha’s, the Queen’s, luring again? If that was the case she wanted to fly back right away. But that would mean leaving the others to explain everything to their Dad… and that was an equally bad idea. This was their responsibility.  _ They _ had dragged everyone into it. 

 

Springer perked up, turning towards the horizon. Kernel read surprise and relief in her feelings. She strained her ears and heard a faint dragon roar in the winds. She held her breath. 

 

It was a long roar with one short pause. She sighed in relief. 

 

“Kernel?”, Astrid asked. 

 

She smiled, “Hiccup contacted me. They’re fine. And doing something spectacular over there” 

 

The warrior too let the tension wash out of her shoulders. She had been told of the twins’ message methods. They were ingenious. Though Kernel insisted she had ripped them off of someone else.  

 

Then there wasn’t time for anything else because Fishlegs’ eyes widened as he pointed to the ocean. 

 

“They’re almost here!”, he said faintly. 

 

Everyone turned and saw two ships in the horizon, steadily growing bigger. Seems the winds were favourable to them. Only about three hours had passed since their trip. Kernel bit her lip before squaring her shoulders. She needed to be strong for this. It was sink or swim, no in-betweens. Hiccup, the dragons, the war…  _ everything _ was riding on whether the vikings accepted them. 

 

She just hoped that the saving trip was enough. They really should’ve just announced themselves there… It would’ve been easier to believe then. 

 

But what was done was done. 

 

“Well. Let’s get to our homes. I’ll prove three hundred years wrong to Dad”, she said, standing up. 

 

Fishlegs gulped nervously. The Thorstons rose with smirks on their faces that said this was going to be epic. Astrid gave her a concerned look before it turned into determination and Gobber extinguished the fire. 

 

Tomorrow, things would be different. For better or worse. 

 

xXXx

 

“Snotlout- !”, Hiccup tried to call out as his cousin’s dragon abruptly changed direction, “You have to turn around!” 

 

“I’m trying!”, the other boy shot back, yelping again when Hookfang found a ship crashed into a rock interesting and started examining it. 

 

The brunette wanted to sigh as he directed Toothless up above them and started trying to get his attention. It worked with fish. Like Astrid had just demonstrated a little while ago. 

 

“C’mon, Hookfang. We have to go back”, Hiccup murmured as he took off, up and up and trying to get out of the fog. 

 

Only it didn’t quite work out like that. Toothless stopped listening. Hookfang stopped listening. The boy’s eyes widened as he recognized the hypnosis. He  _ needed _ to get him to listen and scrambled around his pouch (Kernel made them. She always carried one with her and the habit was contagious) and found what he was looking for. A whistle. One that could (hopefully) break the orders coming from the Alpha Queen. 

 

Toothless jerked. The whistle fell as if in slow motion. 

 

“ _ No…! _ ”, Hiccup breathed and reached for it but couldn’t. 

 

_ Kernel is so gonna flip _ , he thought as he held on tightly and prayed they wouldn’t get eaten by a gigantic dragoness. 

 

“Wh- What’s going on?”, Snotlout asked nervously. 

 

Hiccup glanced at him, “We’re under the Alpha’s influence” 

 

His cousin’s eyes widened in fear as he gulped, holding on tighter. They flew under rock formations. Other dragons appeared in and out of the fog. All of them flying in the same direction. Hiccup reached forward and leaned towards Tooth’s ears. 

 

“Toothless!”, he hissed urgently, “You  _ have _ to turn around!” 

 

He didn’t hear or understand. But his flight faltered a little. Hiccup counted that as a win and started talking more utter nonsense and agitated pleas. Then they were above a rocky beach and he got an idea. The tailfin closed abruptly and Toothless yelped as they crashed into Hookfang. All four went tumbling down on the beach, a mass of growls and surprised shouts. 

 

Toothless was on his feet a little bit later, shaking his head to clear it out. He let out a worried croon and nosed Hiccup who had crashed back first on the rocky beach. The brunette was dazed but smiled up at his dragon easily. 

 

“Good to have you back”, he told him and scratched the Night Fury’s neck. 

 

He rose up to check on his cousin who had been crushed under the Monstrous Nightmare’s head. Snotlout let out a confused groan as the red scaled dragon moved away, laying his head  _ next _ to the rider instead. 

 

“Hiccup? Why is there two of you?”, he asked as he sat up, wavering a bit. 

 

The chief’s son winced, “Ouch. You hit your head?”, he picked up the other boy’s helmet and Snotlout plopped it on his head, blinking wildly. 

 

“No! I’m too awesome for that!”, he grinned and stood on shaky legs. 

 

Hiccup shook his head with a snort. Now he  _ knew _ the raven haired muscle for brains was fine. Hookfang was shaking his head and looking around in confusion. The Nightmare seemed to be okay too. 

 

Now for their predicament. He looked towards the Nest. No way were they getting out of there by flying. Risk of getting pulled in was too high. Then what? Their tribe was already on their way out of here. But now that they already  _ were _ here and this place was filled with dragons… Ideas started forming at lightning speed. Yes, he could do that. It might even be a good thing they crash landed here. 

 

Kernel would definitely worry. He had to get a message to her. Somehow. 

 

He thought for a long moment, staring at the ground with furrowed brows. Toothless’ warm breath ruffled his hair and he turned to the black dragon. Hmm… The Night Fury was getting passable at understanding Norse. He grinned. 

 

“Snotlout”, his voice held authority and the teen turned to him, “We have work to do. Let’s start gathering an army” 

 

Army seemed to be the magic word and an eager grin split his face. Hiccup smiled triumphantly and turned to Toothless. 

 

“ _ You _ can try to get a message to our sisters” 

 

The dragon blinked at him, tilting his head. Hiccup spread his hands out and cupped them around his mouth, miming a roar. A familiar gesture for ‘telephone game’ as Kernel had dubbed it. The idea was to get dragons roaring the same thing and whoever heard it forwarded. Worked best with Gronckles and Nadders. 

 

“Okay”, he gave a hand wave as a mark of what message he wanted sent. 

 

They had three. ‘Ready when you are’, ‘Mission complete’ and ‘Help’. The first was basically a start of an operation. Second marked a successful end of it. Help was exactly what it sounded. A plea for assistance. Right now he chose the first one. 

 

Toothless gave his signature gummy smile before turning to the winds and roaring. A short silence and the same roar was sent ahead. It was an interesting thing they had found out after flying to another nearby island. Dragons copied each other’s roars at times. Kernel had had the idea of turning it to their advantage. 

 

He listened for a while before scratching Toothless again and turning around. 

 

“Right then. Let’s get to it” 

 

The giant mountain loomed threateningly above the four, hiding their enemy inside. Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out. There were dragons to befriend. 

 

xXXx

 

Kernel was nervous. Very nervous. 

 

She walked to the docks after letting Springer (and the others) get back to her house to hide until she could show them to convince Dad. Which would be… difficult. Very difficult. For all parties involved. This was as bad as showing Astrid only many times harder and scarier. She was still excited to see her father after a long month, though. 

 

Gobber was a steady presence beside her as they watched the ships glide to them. 

 

She was grateful for it. The girl didn’t want to be alone when facing her Dad. Stoick looked deep in thought as the ship stopped. He had a bag full of supplies under one arm as he focused on them. Kernel smiled as he saw her. 

 

“Welcome home, Dad”, she greeted with minimal strain in her voice. This wasn’t difficult. It was the part that came after that was. 

 

Gobber helped the chief on land as the viking smiled fondly at her, though he had deep musings still swimming in his eyes. Kernel shuffled her feet nervously. Stoick, of course, picked up on it immediately. He frowned. 

 

“Where’s Hiccup?”, the man asked. 

 

Kernel traded glances with the blacksmith. Yeah, no. Not explaining that yet. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the villagers started congratulating Stoick and telling him his parenting troubles were over. His daughter looking a bit guilty didn’t help matters. His frown deepened. 

 

“ _ Where _ is Hiccup?”, he almost demanded, fearful of the answer. 

 

Gobber scratched his head with his hook and gestured helplessly to Kernel who was biting her lip. She glanced at her father and swallowed. 

 

“We…  _ I _ have something to tell you… Well. More like  _ show _ you”, she told him, “And, uh. Then I’ll go looking for Hiccup. He’ll probably appreciate the help with… Ugh. Sorry. Let’s get home first, please?”, she babbled nervously, wringing her hands. 

 

Stoick was concerned now. He looked to his friend but didn’t find anything helpful. Seemed like he knew what the brunette was on about but wasn’t willing to share. Kernel smiled up at him nervously. Tell tale signs of her or Hiccup having done something he might not like. He almost sighed. This day was turning out to be full of surprises and odd things. 

 

“Let’s go home.  _ But _ I’m expecting a  _ full _ explanation” 

 

His daughter sighed in relief, “Good. That’s… good” 

 

She wondered if Hiccup was having it this hard too. 

 

xXXx

 

Snotlout and Hiccup  _ were _ having a hard time getting Monstrous Nightmares to behave. There was also the fact they lost the whistle and the others would probably easily get swayed to the Queen’s control. Luckily Nadders and some Gronckles were easier to work with. There were some Zipplebacks too but those were rarer. 

 

“ _ Yee- _ Ouch!”

 

Hiccup turned quickly to see his cousin getting gnawed on by little Terrible Terrors. Not particularly dangerously he might add. The boy sighed through his nose. Those little dragons were real terrors in packs. And- 

 

Wait. They were quite easy to train. If they got fish. Which they kind of had. At least twelve fish and that times four would be… 

 

Yeah. That could work. 

 

“Snotlout, come here for a sec” 

 

His cousin looked up incredulously, “ _ Haah? _ Ho-uch!?” 

 

Hiccup sighed again and reached for the first fish. Apparently Snotlout was having  _ real _ trouble moving about with all the Terrors climbing on him. Just then a low pitched noise reached his ears and all the dragons’ eyes narrowed to slits. In unison they turned to look at the mountain, staying very still. 

 

They needed a whistle. No, they needed  _ whistles _ . 

 

Snotlout whistled, “Wow. That’s  _ creepy! _ ” 

 

Hiccup stared at him like he was seeing the boy for the first time. Whistle. Whistling. Kernel always had this good way of making a  _ very _ high pitched note by  _ whistling _ . How come they didn’t see that before? Hiccup put his fingers to his mouth just like his sister had taught him and blew. 

 

Every dragon snapped their eyes to him. Hiccup looked back, stunned. 

 

_ It worked _ , he thought. 

 

Then a slow smile spread across his lips. They could go home now.  _ And _ with an army. 

 

xXXx

 

Kernel started explaining when they were out of earshot and almost at their house. Gobber was walking a small distance behind the father daughter duo. 

 

“So”, she started nervously, “Remember when Hiccup said he shot down a Night Fury?” 

 

“Yes, your brother almost got himself  _ killed! _ What has  _ that _ got to do with this?”, Stoick asked with exasperation. 

 

“Um. He actually  _ did _ shoot down a Night Fury”, she said in a rush and the chief’s eyebrows rose up in wide-eyed surprise. 

 

“ _ What? _ My  _ son _ shot down the terrible beast!?”, his voice was laced with pride and disbelief. 

 

Kernel cringed. His good thoughts popped immediately and his eyes shone with concern. The girl crossed her arms defensively before taking a deep breath. 

 

“Dad”, she addressed him seriously, “We found the Night Fury in the forest right after. Another dragon was trying to get him free” 

 

Stoick felt slight dread pooling in his stomach. If that dragon had hurt Hiccup- 

 

“No, Dad. Hiccup is  _ fine _ . The dragon didn’t hurt either of us. But…”, she almost trailed off before focusing back on task again, bracing herself, “We let them both go free”

 

Incredulous beat of silence. Then her father ran a hand over his face and looked at her with a lost expression, as if unsure what to do with her. She sighed before continuing. 

 

“Sorry… We were  _ trying _ to tell you we couldn’t kill dragons. And you’re not going to like this…”, she licked her lips before ploughing on, “We went after them. The Night Fury had been hurt and we tried to find them the next day after dragon training. Gobber had just told us that ‘dragons  _ always _ go for the kill’ but  _ they _ didn’t. So we wanted to know what was going on”, not completely and totally true but would satisfy their father better than saying ‘oh yeah, the other dragon is my other self from my previous lives’. 

 

This time Stoick’s eyes told a myriad of emotions and thoughts. He didn’t seem to know what to think of this. Or where it was going. He clearly didn’t like what they had done but was willing to listen. Somehow he was always a bit more willing to listen to  _ her _ than Hiccup. Maybe it was because she was usually a very reasonable thinker and he hadn’t seen that her brother was too. 

 

“Well… We found out”, she said slowly, “We found a  _ lot _ more than we ever thought possible. It’s… They… Um. I- I think I’d be better off just showing you. Wait here”

 

And then she went around her house, leaving Stoick and Gobber back to the front. The chief instantly turned to his old friend. 

 

“You know about this. What is she doing?”, he asked quietly but urgently. 

 

Gobber lifted his shoulders up a bit in something like a defensive shrug, “Weeell… I think it would be best if she just showed it. Those two kids o’ yours are quite something” 

 

Just then Kernel poked her head around the corner. Her face was tight with nervousness and fear. Stoick felt a bit lost and the same feelings were running through his body. What would be so shocking that she would have to go to lengths like  _ this? _ Kernel licked her lips again and opened her mouth. 

 

“Dad? I just want you to know that everything’s  _ okay _ . I am  _ perfectly _ safe.  _ You _ are perfectly safe. She won’t hurt you” 

 

And with those ominous words shedding light to something just out of reach she stepped around the corner with her hand on something scaly and colored light brown. Curious blue eyes with a bird-like snout, no, a beak. Wings. 

 

An unknown dragon. 

 

His pupils dilated as anger started rising through his shock, eyes moving between Kernel and the  _ beast _ . He was just about to step in to drag her daughter  _ away from danger _ when said daughter started  _ scratching  _ the dragon. And the dragon started purring, eagerly pushing against Kernel’s legs like a cat. Stoick’s mouth hung open as his daughter swung herself on the beast’s back which the dragon accepted easily. 

 

It even had a  _ saddle _ . 

 

One that had Hiccup and Kernel’s names all over it if the craftsmanship said anything. His  _ daughter  _ was  _ sitting on a dragon _ . 

 

“Dad?”, her worried voice asked and he noticed she was much more worried about  _ his _ reaction than about the dragon eating her, “As you can see we… kinda became friends. There’s a  _ lot _ more to dragons than we knew… Dad?” 

 

He repeated his daughter’s words in his mind and then this day’s strange happenings with the other dragons… He was willing to believe that, even if he didn’t trust them at all. Or believe anything. Yet. He felt anger rising as he started pacing. He couldn’t stay still with- with-  _ this _ happening in front of his very eyes. 

 

“You threw your lot with  _ them _ . What about all the vikings they’ve killed? What about your own  _ mother? _ ”, he heard himself shout, detached from the moment. 

 

Her eyes turned impossibly sad and he felt a little guilty but justified in asking those questions. His hands were balled to shaking fists at his sides. 

 

“We’ve also killed  _ thousands _ of them…”, she whispered, voice full of sorrow, “But Dad, there’s more. We’ve learned a  _ lot _ this past month.  _ Including _ that the dragons that have been raiding us have  _ no choice _ . It’s them attacking us… or getting eaten themselves. That and, well, there’s the mind control…” 

 

This lifted the red hot fog of turmoil in his mind a little.  _ This _ was new. Something that might give insight. A  _ reason _ for attacks. And would probably make sense if what he had been seeing today was true. And… mind control. 

 

“What do you mean?” 


End file.
